hJio n - Digital Library

<Euie Q ru hJion
T o n ig h t is lying on hay
The Prince from Heaven.
The Shepherds are praying in silence
Soon all bells will ring.
Shepherds, let’s run altogether
To the stable of Bethlehem,
Take ice-flowers from the windows
Decorate it with the blossoms of frost.
L e t ’s decorate his stable
W ith our sorrows and with blossoms,
Let’s kneel down and pray—
And our sins will be forgiven.
THE GRYPHON
C hristm as
1951
JOURNAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
CONTENTS
page
5
E d it o r ia l
66 B r i g h t L i g h t s i n
T h e P a r k in s o n
B
th e
John Gardner
Sky ”
Conway Broughton
u il d in g
7
11
T o t h e E d i t o r o f 64 T h e G r y p h o n ”
15
Ch r is t m a s F a r e
17
D
umb
Show
T in
in
On
the
L oye
S id e
of
the
A
ngels
P atricia Ball
18
P. H. Beahan
22
Ronald Balaam
23
Robinetta Arm felt
29
T h e G r e g o r y F e l l o w s h ip s
Charles Kingham
32
T he M om ent
Turner Odell
34
Jam es K irk u p
40
D avid Marno
41
Charles K ingham
42
W ilfred Childe
43
Richard Courtney
44
W. A . Hodges
47
John England
53
A
unt
and
P eace
is
Lam ent
P
ro
E l e c t r ic it y
W
the
fo r
ord
Icarus
P a t r ia
Mythus
P a in t in g
the
P
r o fesso r
T he A m ateur T heatre a n d the
U n iv e r s it y T h e a t r e G r o u p
Star Matter
n g in e e r s
58
T h e M e d i c a l 44 S m o k e r ”
60
Ch e m m y L a b N
61
P
eeps
at
the
E
otes
F r o n t is p ie c e , T it l e - P a g e B
lock
by
Gerald Robinson
and
I l l u s t r a t io n
EDITORIAL
B rin g in g Ourselves Up f o r F lig h t
A few years
ago we m et a w om an w ith tw o sm all children, n o t long fled
from w ar an d rev o lu tio n in H u n g ary .
W e rem ark ed
how h ap p y th e children were despite th e h azard s and
p riv atio n s of th e ir lives, an d th e ir m o th er, who h ad grow n up
in secu rity herself, said philosophically th a t she h ad 44 b ro u g h t
th e m up for flig h t.”
T he m a n — or m y th , or M aster— whose b irth is celeb rated
a t C hristm as h ad also to flee ty ra n n y in infancy an d grew up
to teach of a life w hose joys did n o t depend on g rea t possessions
b u t 011 rig h t relationships betw een m an and m an, an d m a n an d
God. M any of us are ig n o ra n t of his gospel because th e re is
a p a th y in C hristian congregations or because church practices
do n o t m eet our needs. N eith er are these m et b y our secular
ed u catio n , w hich gives us som ething to live a t, seldom an y th in g
to live by. (Too few u n iv e rsity g rad u a tes w ould deserve a first
for honours in th e a rt of living a full life.) W e m ay well pause
a t th e w in ter solstice, lay preconceptions aside, and rea d th e
N ew T estam e n t w ith an open m in d — and in a m odern tra n s la ­
tio n . I t can, we believe, show us som ething to live by. I t can
44 b rin g us up for flight ” n o t in th e sense of ru n n in g aw ay from
evils b u t in being p rep a re d to overcom e them . We need to
stu d y C h ristia n ity ’s deep an d difficult tru th s if we are to
succeed in th e m ost u rg e n t ta sk of our generation ; w hich is
n eith er to create nor to d estro y , b u t to reconcile.
V aguely
T here is tim e and place for vagueness in
expression b u t we are concerned to n ote its increase w here
sh arp should be th e w ord. Too m a n y people speak of v aguelv
seeing things w hen we are sure th e y can ac tu a lly see th e m
well b u t are too lazy to say so, or to look a t th e m properly.
44 \ aguelv ” is follow ing those o th e r b lu n t in stru m e n ts 44 so rt
o f ” and 44 k ind of ” into th e language an d doing it no good.
W e foresee a tim e w hen E dw in will say to his ad o red :
44 I v aguely feel th a t I so rt of love you in a k in d of w av .”
I f he does we hope A ngelina will answ er him crisply w ith a
sh a rp clip over th e ear.
6
ED ITO R IA L
The G ryphon an d the S p h in x F ro m th e des­
c rip tio n of th e scroll p resen ted to H .R .H . th e P rincess R oyal
a t her In sta lla tio n as C hancellor of th e U n iv ersity on
N ovem ber 9 th :
The vert and gules gryphon or griffin represents the
student body o f the university . . . the Greek sphinx sejant
gules . . . is the crest o f the U niversity arms.
F ro m th e S h o rter O xford E nglish D ictio n ary :
S p h in x :
nature.
A thing . . . o f an inscrutable or mysterious
F ro m 44 Alice in W on d erlan d
The Gryphon sat up and rubbed its eyes : then it
watched the Queen till she was out o f sig h t: then it chuckled.
44 What fu n ! ” said the Gryphon, h alf to itse lf h a lf to Alice.
44 What is the fu n ? ” said Alice. 44 W hy, she,” said the
Gryphon. 44 I f s all her fa n cy, that : they never executes
nobody, you knoiv. Come on ! ” 44 Everybody says 4 come
on ! ’ /iere,” thought A lice, as she went slowly after i t :
44 I never ivas so ordered about in all m y life, never ! ”
This Gryphon, too, som etim es says 44 W h a t fu n ! ” an d
p u ts a ca t am ong th e pigeons in th e form of a co n tro v ersial
article, since our pages m u st be open to co n tro v ersy on m a tte rs
o f general im p o rtan ce to stu d e n ts an d th e U n iv ersity a t large.
T h a t is to provoke th o u g h t— to say, in effect, 44 Come on ! ”
W e never really executes nobody, vou know . So com e on !
John G ardner
“ BRIGHT LIGHTS IN THE SKY”
A P T A IN S W A R B R IC K S M IL E D a t th e new in ta k e of
rec ru its and th e line of his m o u th was carried earw ard s
b y th e te n d rils of his eleg an t cav alry m o u stach e.
H e h ad spoken for tw e n ty m inutes and th e gist of his
one-sided conversatio n w ith those before him was, in a w ord :
66 T oughness is all.”
T he first signs of a u tu m n show ed on th e su rro u n d in g
v eg e tatio n , a stro n g and chilling w ind blew in to th e bodies of
th e p ara d ed u n fo rtu n a te s and C ap tain S w arb rick ’s face glowed
R ugby-L nion-F ootball-C lub-good-health. W hile his S ergeantin stru c to rs stood rigidly and ruggedly to a tte n tio n , th e C ap tain
in tim a te d to th re e sta lw a rt L ie u ten a n ts th a t th e tim e h ad
com e for th e m to 46 c a rrv on.” T he th ree S ergeants leaped
in to th e in ev itab le breach and m arched off th e subjects of th e ir
every w him .
In th e m arquee, w hich served tw en ty -sev en m en and
th ree lance-corporals as hotel, casino, lib ra rv and la ter, ho sp ital,
th e scene was all a c tiv ity . Men were coalesced in to groups of
m u tu a l co m m iserators an d evil pro g n o sticato rs, w hen, in th e
m id st of all en tered a sergeant, follow ed b y a ju v en ile
lie u te n a n t w ith th e face of a young ape ; th e 44ro o m ” ’sh u n n ed
an d th e pseudo-sim ian began his o ratio n , his voice b etra y in g
evidence of a classical ed u catio n a t U ppingham , w hich h ad
n o t m e rited his e n try in to th e sixth-form b u t h ad o b ta in ed
him a closed scholarship a t Balliol.
44 Now I w a n t you all to be perfectly h a p p y h ere ,” a m ost
delightful display of a rra n t d isin terested hypocrisy, 44 I f you
h ave a n y co m p lain ts b rin g ’em stra ig h t to me. T his is S erg ean t
W ilson—ju s t do ex a ctly w h at he says and no h arm can come
to y o u — t h a t ’s rig h t isn ’t it S ergeant ? ”
T w enty-seven pairs of eyes m oved to th e uncom ely face
o f S ergeant W ilson. A m an of some th irtv -fiv e sum m ers, he was
r e v o ltin g h . n o t to say disgustingly, h e a lth y — a t his h ap p iest
C
8
JO H N G ARDNER
ru n n in g back w ard s ro u n d a p ara d e ground w ith an ea ste rly
gale blow ing and a p la to o n of 44 T he Less F it ” a tte m p tin g to
gain some m easure of h e a lth and happiness b y ab o rtiv ely
chasing him .
The L ie u te n a n t d isappeared as S ergeant W ilson spoke in
his concise to w n-bred accents : 44 N ah w ot w e’re a going on
w iv n ah ” — th e e tern al le ctu rers’ g am bit, rem em bered P riv a te
S m ith, even th o u g h he h ad heard it la st in ra th e r a different
d ialect, th o u g h one h ard ly as im posing.
44 N ah w ot w e’re a going on w iv n ah is ju s t a little get
to g ever so’s we know w ho’s who. As yer all know I ’m S ergeant
W ilson. Some of y er will ’ave ’eard of me before, ju s t pass it
ra h n d an d b ear in m ind e v e ry th in k yer ’ear— i t ’s orl tr u e .”
A delicious smile, stran g e ly rem iniscent of th a t of an eightm o n th old b a b y , creased his rugged face and disp lay ed a set
of te e th in assorted sizes an d colours. H is smile faded as he
reg ard ed th e faces of those aro u n d him , all of th em too pale
an d ascetic for his personal ta ste . H e sta rte d upon his in tro ­
d u cto ry circuit w ith th e u sual m e th o d of nam e, occupation,
in terests, an d a few well ap p lau d ed jokes. H e found a farm
lab ourer, a steel w orker, a sh o p -assistan t, b a r te n d er, lib rarian ,
le a th e r w orker : a m isplaced son of toil from alm ost every
in d u stry an d behold, th e low est of th e low, S m ith , an
ex -stu d e n t.
44 J o b .”
44 E r . . . I w as a s tu d e n t.”
44 Oh yeah , w h a t did you do for a living ? ”
44 W ell, I w orked for th e P o st Office a t C hristm as.”
44 Y eah, I know , Chelsea P erishers, k n it socks— I m ean
how did you get y o u r m oney ? ”
44 W ell, I h ad a g ra n t an d a sm all allow ance from hom e— ”
44 O h, y er d id n ’t ackcherly w ork th e n ? ”
44 W ell, yes, b u t— ”
44 S ounds to m e like you was a spiv ! ”
44 W ell, h ard ly , you know we w orked— ”
44 Y eah, yeah, I know , m e t y o u r tv p e before, an y in te rests
a p a rt from being a stu d e n t ? ”
64 B R IG H T LIGHTS IN THE SK Y ”
9
44 W ell, I w as a m em ber of th e Chem ical S ociety.”
44 Oh, th e Chem ical Societv— playing w ith stinks, eh !
Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! ”
The ex -stu d e n t jo in ed in th e general h ila rity : an y p o rt
in a sto rm —
44 Y o u ’ll find th is ’ere a b it different from yer cushioned
seats of le arn in g .”
S ergeant W ilson passed on to th e n e x t m a n an d so to th e
end, w hen he p aused a t th e te n t flap.
44 R ig h t, reveille a t 5-30 to -m o rre r and p ara d e 6-15 for
b rea k fa st. T h a t m a y be a b it early for some of y er b u t v o u ’ll
find th a t if yer splashes y er faces in nice cold w ater in th e
m orning y o u ’ll soon be w ide aw ake ” — an d w ith th a t he w en t.
T he m orning daw ned m isty an d cold w ith a chilling
breeze. S ergeant W ilson rolled h eavily o u t of his bed and
w alked n ak ed o u t of his te n t, his large b o d y a little stiff in its
first release from sleep. O utside he b re a th e d deeply in th e
daw n air, exercising his torso b y th e side of his te n t w here,
he w as afraid , no one could see him . W ith a pow erful swing
o f one arm he raised a b u c k e t of icy w a te r and drenched him self.
S erg ean t W ilson w as now v ery m uch aw ake. A quick tow elling
a n d a ru n ro u n d th e p ara d e ground p u t him in to his usual
lionish spirits an d he dressed rap id ly in his n ea tly pressed
u niform to begin an o th e r d a y ’s w ork.
The d ay for a re c ru it w as one of discovery th a t he really
w as ru s ty in every bone, jo in t an d m uscle. E very o n e suffered,
an d S m ith especially found him self perform ing u n co m fo rta b ly
an d n o t too well and becom ing an easy ta rg e t for S erg ean t
W ilson.
T he days ached p a s t an d S ergeant W ilson drilled his m en
in to u g hness ; an d of all of th e m 44 S tin k er S m ith ” p a rtic u la rly
becam e daily h a rd e r an d m ore ro b u st. S m ith objected to his
nam e, b u t his chem ical associations clung closer th a n he w ould
otherw ise h av e liked u n til one d ay S ergeant W ilson cau g h t him
sneerin g in his reply.
44 R ig h t, m y b o y — cook-house d uties for y ou all th is w eek.
S m ith .”
10
JO H N G A R D N ER
O nly too well did he know w^hat th is m e a n t— cleaning,
scrubbing, an d polishing th e k itc h en afte r a h ard d a y ’s ph y sical
tra in in g ; he groaned ju s t a t th e th o u g h t.
As th e w eek passed b y S m ith ’s h e a rt h ard en ed ag ain st
S ergeant W ilson, and on W ednesday n ig h t as he re tu rn e d
across th e frozen grass p a st S ergeant W ilson’s te n t to th e
m arq u ee a plan began to form in his m ind.
On T h u rsd a v evening he h u rrie d to th e cook-house an d
b usied him self in th e b u tc h e r’s shop. H e w orked h a rd for some
tim e and looking aro u n d him before he left he eased open
a w indow .
S m ith tu rn e d in to b ed a t once w hen he got b ac k to th e
te n t b u t stran g ely m ade every effort to keep aw ake. A t 1 a.m .
he crep t o u t of th e m arquee, crossed to th e b u tc h e r’s shop,
slipped th e w indow up an d entered. A m in u te la te r he clim bed
o ut w ith a b u ndle u n d er his arm . Q uickly he carried it b ac k
across th e grass, pausing for a m o m en t a t S ergeant W ilson’s
te n t. Two m inutes la te r he w as in b ed an d sleeping th e
p ro v erb ial sleep of th e ju s t.
The m orning daw ned m isty an d cold w ith a b itin g w ind.
S ergeant W ilson rolled heavily o u t of his b ed an d w alked n ak e d
o ut of his te n t, his large bod y a little stiff in its first release from
sleep. O utside he b re a th e d deeply in th e daw n air, expelling
g reat gusts of v ap o u r, an d w ith a sw ing of his arm he raised
his m orning show er, glancing w ith self-ap p ro b atio n a t th e u su al
frozen film th e w a te r w ould b re a k th ro u g h .
S u d d en ly th e sky w as illu m in a ted w ith a w hole g alax y
of s ta rs — p la n ets shot across his view an d b rig h t lights suffused
his sight. W ith .a look of shocked surprise S erg ean t W ilson
crum pled to his knees an d collapsed h eavily on his face over
a large block of ice.
11
C on w ay B rou gh ton
THE PARKINSON BUILDING
T W AS A H E A D M A S T E R who once rem a rk e d th a t
en d -of-term rep o rts alw ays to ld him less of his pupils th a n
th e y did of his staff. So it is w ith criticism an d , to be
p artic u la r, w ith Mr. E v e n s’ rec en t stric tu res of Mr. L odge’s
a rc h itec tu re. F or here we h av e an on slau g h t m ade in tru e
b a ttle -a x e an d bludgeo n style, th a t tells us re m a rk a b ly little
a b o u t th e buildings an d re m a rk a b ly m uch a b o u t Tim . W e shall
deal first w ith him and th e n w ith th e o b ject of his a tta c k — th e
P ark in so n an d B ro th e rto n buildings. Y ou m u st forgive us if
we spill m ore of our in k upo n th e la tte r — th e y are bigger, in
ev ery w ay.
F irst, Mr. E vens is p o te n tia lly schizophrenic. H e opens
w ith a dem ocratic ap p eal to all of us 46 vigorously and sensibly
[to] criticise th e buildings th a t we use ” because “ A rch ite ctu re
concerns ev ery one of us ” ; b u t he closes w ith d o u b ts an d
q u estio n s ab o u t our 44 sta te of v isual ed u c atio n ” an d of th e
a b ility of u n iv e rsity com m ittees to have an 66 eye for good
d esign,” because th e y have a p p a re n tly n e ith e r received th e
rig h t k in d of ed u catio n n o r h a d th e leisure in la te r life to
acq u ire it. C harm ing !
A second dich o to m y in his reasoning can be d etec ted in his
c o n s ta n t appeals to th e G reek an d th e Good, an d his eq u ally
fre q u e n t reference to th e U seful an d th e P ra ctical. As so m uch
o f th e a r t of a rc h ite c tu re derives from a living reconciliation
o f form w ith use, we m u st n o t blam e Mr. E vens too m uch ;
b u t th is irreso lu tio n is a peculiar tr a it ; th e device of a sly
sk irm ish er w ho shifts his ground from one canon of criticism
to an o th er, th e m ore su b tly to th ro w his d arts.
C areful stu d y of th is article m a y excuse us for assessing
Mr. E v ens as a critic in m uch th e sam e te rm s as he has assessed
Mr. Lodge as a designer of la n tern s :
44 S urely th e critic is here far gone in inflam m atio n of th e
ju d icia l faculties. H is logic reads like n o th in g on e a r th .”
I
12
C ONW AY B R O U G H TO N
The Parkinson Building.
Mr. T hom as Lodge has th e a d v a n ta g e of Mr. E v en s in
th a t, being a p rac tisin g a rc h ite c t, he possesses a piece of k n o w ­
ledge th a t is, I am to ld , rarely ac q u ired u n til one has left th e
lecture-room far behind. I t is th e fac t th a t buildings h av e to
sta n d 011 som ething. T his som ething is called L-A -N -D . I t is
(for Mr. E v en s’ inform ation) ra re ly level, an d in tow ns is
generally circum scribed b y o th e r buildings, b y ro ad s, an d —
as one builds u p — b y th e dem ands of lig h t, air an d silh o u ette.
These are som etim es referred to collectively as th e P roblem s of
th e Site. W ith these in m ind m a y I ask y ou— in lieu of th e
u sual 44 p o in t-to -p o in t ” race over th e g round th a t Mr. E v en s
has covered— th is w ould be a v ery slow business because of th e
m u d — m ay I ask you to perform a v ery sim ple exercise ?
L ook at th e P ark in so n an d th e n a t th e Civic H all. Y ou will
find each in an angle of roads an d on a slope th a t d em an d s
a bold fro n t dow nhill. T h en rea d th e d escrip tio n of th e M arch
H a r e s H ouse in 44 Alice in W o n d erlan d ” (w ith its gables like
tw o ears). T h en th in k of th e h u n d red s of room s in each b u ilding,
all d em anding fresh air and a view ; an d rem em b er how
th o u sa n d s of freshers clim b W oodhouse L ane for th e first view
of a goal th a t has lain ah e ad of th e m for a long, long tim e.
T h en do it all again by nig h t. 44 T h in n ec k ,” was th a t how he
d escribed th a t to w er ?
W ith in th e P ark in so n th e re is a problem an d a challenge.
Mr. E vens sta te s th is clearly : 44 if th is place w as or is to b e
a m eeting-place, w hy no provision for refresh m en ts ? an d w hy
no fu rn itu re ? ”
Ignoring Mr. E v en s’ petitio p rin c ip i of :
44 th e re can be no fu rn itu re ” an d ta k in g up th e challenge w hich
in his headlong course he has le ft u nansw ered, I w ould say th a t
th is C en tral C ourt could, an d should, be all th a t its fo u n d er
desired and its arc h itec t p lanned. B u t first th re e fresh
co nditions m u st be fulfilled. T h a t th is is so im plies no fa u lt in
Mr. Lodge because to achieve th is end we now req u ire a rc h i­
te c tu re of a different so rt th a n th a t w hich deals w ith m o rta r,
m e tal and stone.
To fill an y room w ith people in th e course of a w orking d ay
— be th e y stu d e n ts, young or old, office staffs or w ork p eo p le—
THE PA R K IN SO N B U IL D IN G
13
a th reefold provision of F ood. F u rn itu re an d F rien d sh ip is
req u ired . L et us call th e m th e th ree F ’s of sociality. Coffee
a n d te a b ay s su rro u n d e d b y a p erip h ery of lig h t chairs and
tab les should form th e basis of th e physical provision. More
im p o rta n t th a n th a t w ould be th e custom to w hich staff and
stu d e n ts m u st c o n trib u te , w hich will bring th e C ourt in to its
p ro p er use. 66 C om petition w ith th e U nion ? ” you ask. No.
T he U nion is m uch too crow ded. F riendships grow in in tim a c v
n o t in crow ds. I t is outside th e scope of th is article to d etail
th e m oves— w hich afte r all, should be allow ed sp o n tan eo u s
g ro w th . T his g en eratio n has th e chance to create a fine tra d itio n
if, in stea d of abusing tho se who p rovided th e en v iro n m en t, it
has th e im a g in a tio n to use th e o p p o rtu n ities w hich th is
en v iro n m en t gives. A t p rese n t these lie locked up w ith in th e
sp o n ta n e ity of each one of us ; and only we can tu r n th e k ey .
The Brotherton.
L ib raries can be 64 open ” or 66 closed.” T he closed lib ra ry
is one w here all the books are ordered on slips of p ap e r an d
b ro u g h t b y a tte n d a n ts . T hey are re c ta n g u la r affairs w ith
storeroom s, lifts an d long corridors. In th e m th e association
of shelf and read in g desk is incid en tal. A n open shelf lib ra rv ,
such as th e B ro th e rto n , is b ased on tw o sim ple needs— quick
access to th e catalogue and a sh o rt d istance from catalogue to
book. H ere I m u st tell Mr. E vens v e t a n o th e r secret th a t
arc h itec ts learn only w hen th e y begin to practise. I t is th e
asto u n d in g fac t th a t every p a r t of a circum ference is eq u i­
d is ta n t from its cen tre. I f you, or he, po n d er upon th is,
p referab ly leaning over a rail in th e u p p er gallery of th e
B ro th e rto n , th e q u estio n of 44 w hy a ro u n d lib ra ry ? ” answ ers
itself. T he m ore com plicated q u estio n of 44 ra tio n a l expansion ”
will do ubtless be solved m uch as O xford solved th a t of th e
ex p an sion of th e old B odleian to th e R adcliffe Cam era : an d
th en ce to th e New B odleian. B y th e tim e these m a tte rs are
u rg e n t a closed-shelf lib ra ry for research lite ra tu re will enable
th e B ro th e rto n , still open-shelved and still co nven ien t, to
co n tin u e to serve th e d a y -to -d a y needs of th e o rd in ary stu d e n t.
A t th is p o in t I becom e tra ito r. T he 44 b row n an d din g y
14
CONW AY BR OUGHTON
green and d irty gilt ” do n o t d istu rb m e— I like things to be
u n o b tru siv e w hen I am w ith m y books. B u t I find m y se lf
u nab le to disagree w ith a n y th in g Mr. E vens says a b o u t th a t
la n tern . I w ould even add a fu rth e r criticism . T hings in
libraries should n o t, as I said, o b tru d e. I alw ays read th e re in
th e fear lest th e B ro th e rto n la n te rn should drop. Jo lly good
so far as th e la n te rn is concerned ; b u t th in k of th e catalo g u e
an d th e clocks !
T here is a n o th e r p o in t th a t Mr. E vens has overlooked. J u s t
as G reek groves acquired a genius Zoci, so has th e B ro th e rto n .
H er nam e is ann o u n ced as we en ter. W e are b id d e n to p erfo rm
grave rites to serve her nice dem ands. She is (I say it w ith awe)
th e H ea tin g S ystem . A nd th is is M UCH TOO H O T . S lu m b er
is n o t unknow n in u n iv e rsity libraries b u t need th e a u th o ritie s
go o u t of th e ir w ay to induce it ? I t has long been m y conviction
th a t w ere th e te m p e ra tu re to fall b y te n degrees, th e pass list
w ould rise by as m a n y p o in ts p er cent.
T he P ark in so n an d B ro th e rto n buildings are p a r t of a m uch
larger plan. W e h av e seen th is p lan an d know its splendid
ex te n t. T hese buildings are th e p o rtals an d en tran ces to a
U n iv ersity w hich is th e h ighest th in g in Leeds an d , in ev ery
w ay, deserves to be so. B ecause th e fu tu re p a rts are n o t y e t
b u ilt th e y look o u t of p ro p o rtio n and p rete n tio u s. So did th e
strip lin g w alls of R om e to R em us. H e ju m p e d over th e m in
m uch th e sam e sp irit of b ra v a d o as Mr. E vens has so u g h t to
leap over th e first phases of Mr. L odge’s larger schem e. Y et
I feel th a t n e ith e r th e a rc h ite c t nor any o th ers of us will w orry
m uch nor love Mr. E vens th e less ; because we all ca rry
a stra n d of sy m p a th y for R em us. R em us did h av e a sense of
fun and, even if one ca n n o t be logical or co n sisten t or in an y
sense an a rc h ite c t one can, like R em us and Mr. E v en s, keep
fit an d alive b y being m ischievous and gay a t h e a rt.
(Mr. E v e n s w rites : 44 N ow that readers have been shown several
sides o f the question it is fo r them to form their own opinions.
I f my article has helped people to think about architecture, its
complexity and its im plications, then its 44 onslaught ” w ill
have been worthwhile.” — E d .)
15
TO THE EDITOR OF “ THE GRYPHON ”
D ear Sir,
Mr. E v e n s’ sw eeping a tta c k on th e U n iv e rsitv ’s new
buildings provokes rep ly on m a n y points.
I t is n o t surprising th a t a building designed 25 v ears ago
should reflect th e tre n d of its tim es. A t a period w hen “ m o d e rn ”
a rc h itec tu re was exp erim en tal, forbiddingly functio n al, and
o ften ugly, th e a rc h ite c t w as ju stified in choosing a style w hich
h ad te ste d values : even so he has in c o rp o rta te d m uch of th e
sm oothness of m odern designs in to his plans, th u s com bining
a feeling of a d v e n tu re w ith his use of th e tra d itio n a l.
My second p o in t is one w hich y o u r critic ad m its before
b ru sh in g it aside. S unshine on P o rtla n d stone is v ery p le asa n t
an d th a t is a v ery good reason for using it as a facing m a teria l,
even th o u g h cost m ay m ake it im p ra ctic ab le to use on all sides.
A nd alth o u g h th e facade m a y n o t square up to sta n d a rd s of
ab so lu te hon esty , it is d ra m a tic in its effect. Mr. E v en s is
w orried b y th e lack of a p ed im en t over th e m ain en tra n ce , b u t
its absence is com p en sated for b y th e clim ax of th e tow er.
Mr. E vens th in k s th e P ark in so n lacks a d v e n tu re b u t doesn’t
like th is tow er. S urely it is a d v e n tu ro u s to be th e highest th in g
in Leeds ?
Y o ur c o n trib u to r n e x t goes to to w n in his co n d em n atio n
of th e C entral C ourt. I t is tru e th a t th is is a lu x u ry an d th a t
th e re is little to be said for it from a u tilita ria n p o in t of view.
B u t ev e ry th in g else w ould have been an anti-clim ax afte r th e
prom ise of th e facade, nor will th e c o u rt be o u t of p ro p o rtio n
to th e size of th e com pleted ran g e of buildings— Mr. E v en s
seems to forget th a t final assessm ent ca n n o t y e t be m ade. As for
th e B ro th e rto n , a ro u n d lib ra ry w ith a dom e on it seems to me
fair enough. T he dom e gives a spacious and lo fty effect w here
th e b u ilding could so easily have been sq u a t an d depressing.
A nd are th e lig h t o ak read in g desks really so im possible to w ork
a t co m fo rta b ly ? Mr. E v e n s’ knees m u st be v ery aw kw ard ones
indeed. N or is th e la n te rn th e anach ro n ism th a t Mr. E vens
th in k s. B ecause th e G reeks did n o t have electric light is no
reason for denying us a la n te rn th a t is b o th fu n ctio n al and
16
JO A N B A R B E R
d ecorative. Surely an a rc h ite c t can com bine th e v irtu e s of b o th
classical an d m odern design, so th a t each can p ro fit from th e
o th er ?
I th in k Mr. Lodge has done a very good jo b in difficult
circum stances— h ard ly m entio n ed b y y o u r co n trib u to r. H e h ad
to cope w ith th e changing needs o f th e U n iv ersity as reflected
in th e m odifications p u t forw ard b y his clients, th e U n iv ersity
au th o rities, d uring co n stru ctio n . Mr. E vens, in his com m ents,
seems to have been overcom e b y th e ex u beran ce of his own
v erb o sity on th e sub ject. H e ce rtain ly has n o t m ade th a t
sensible critical assessm ent of th is arc h ite c tu re w hich, he tells
us, is so necessary.
Y ours, etc.,
J oan
Barber.
THE FEBRUARY “ GRYPHON ”
Copy will go to th e p rin te rs on
M onday,
21st J a n u a r y
— will co n trib u to rs please keep th e d ate before th e m a t th e
beginning of n e x t term ? All copy, an d p artic u la rly th a t linked
w ith unfam iliar nam es, goes in to th e Gryphon box in th e U nion
hallw ay.
IT
CHRISTMAS FARE
(1)
IN G R E D IE N T S FOR A GREAT CAKE
( from a Cornish cookery book dated 1763)
Five pounds of B utter, brought to a Cream
Five pounds of Floure
Three pounds of W hite Sugar
Seven pounds of Currants
Two shillings and sixpence worth in Perfume
Peel of two Oranges
One pint Good Canary
One half pint of Rosewater
Forty-three Eggs (half ye whites)
One pound of Citron
Keep ye Cake one Twelve Month.
(2)
R E C E IP T FOR M ETH EG LIN (dated 1727).
To every q u art of honey pu t a gallon of water, boyled
about an hour before you put in ye Honey, then boyle both
together an hour more, and scum it clean, then put in a
bag, Ginger, Nutm eg, Cloves, Mace, and Cinamon, sufficient
for this quantity. W hen ’tis cold enough you m ay pu t two
spoonfuls of new Yest and put into ye vessel to work a little.
To be sure ’tis strong enough trye it when ye Honey is
melted, if ’twill bear an egg. If not, add more Honey, put
ye bagge of Spice into ye vessel to remain tyed to a string
to hang about ye middle of ye barrel with a stone to keep
it from Swimming.
18
P atricia B a ll
DUMB SHOW
44 Y ’M G O IN G O U T .” 44 All rig h t d e a r.” T heir w ords were
JL engulfed in th e silent space betw een them . O nlv his care
in m aking his d e p a rtu re careless crossed it, sh o u tin g
re tre a t.
A nyw ay, she w ould realise he was retre a tin g , m ak in g an
escape. She alw ays did.
Now th a t th e house was beh in d him , he could ad m it th e
th o u g h ts, let th e m fall in to step w ith him . I t w as only w hen
sittin g w ith her th a t he felt like a sulky child if he let th em
come. W hy should she m ake him feel like th a t ?
H e got on a ’bus and sw ung u p sta irs on th e crest of his
surging independence. A sudden je rk sent him lu rching in to
a seat w ith his overcoat rucked u n d e rn e a th him , an d self p itv
uncoiled itself again.
H e sta re d w ith a b la n k ’bus stare a t
th e heads in fro n t of him , felt th e eyes beh in d him , an d h ated
th em because he had n o t even k e p t th e d ig n ity of a stran g er.
To th em he was th e m an who lost his balance an d sat dow n
in an u n tid y heap.
B ack on th e defensive, his grievances swelled. H e could
p erhaps regain his tru e h eight if he saw him self in th e m irro r
of ju stificatio n . T he th ree p en n y piece in his h an d tu rn e d its
b lu n t edges an d becam e a p a rt of his m ood. She let those silences
form . L et th e m close around an d betw een th e m like fogs.
H ow could he— well— get th ro u g h to her w hen th a t h ap p en ed ?
Pleased by his own m etap h o rs he discovered th a t th e m an
in fro n t of him h ad oddly-shaped ears.
H e settled him self m ore com fortably ; h e’d m ake an effort
p erhaps. A fter all, she m ig h t n o t th in k he was still in te reste d
in w h at w as going on. H e’d show her then-—ask q u estio n s—
encourage her.
T he secu rity of th e ’bus ride was ta k in g effect : he felt
safely suspended above ev ery th in g . L ike tim e off from a jo b .
T im e to look on y our own life as you p atro n isin g ly gazed on
th e w eaving, th re a d in g p av em en ts dow n below.
D U M B SHOW
19
Y es, h e’d been a fool. W hen he got back , h e’d a d m it it.
T he w hole scene to o k shape in his m ind ; his eyes se ttle d on
th e b ro w n trilb y in fro n t of him ; he h ea rd him self saying it
all. 41 T hese silences m u st be as unco m fo rtab le for yo u as for
me. S h ou ld n ’t hap p en . D o n ’t th in k I h a v e n ’t felt th em . B ad
to ta lk for th e sake of ta lk in g , of course. B u t we can m anage
b e tte r th a n th is, y ou k n o w .”
H e felt as relieved as if he h ad alre ad y said it, an d
ex p an d ed in his seat. I t w ould be all rig h t. R eally, th e w ay
h e’d left th e house h ad been a b it childish. P oor old Louie.
C ouldn’t blam e her for th in k in g him a fool som etim es.
44 F ares, please,” th r u s t sh a rp ly into th is m e d ita tio n ;
to his an n oyance he ju m p e d an d dro p p ed his th re e p e n n y piece.
H is h a t tip p e d over one ear as he grovelled for it. H e h ad to
ask th e m a n in fro n t to m ove his feet, while th e co n d u cto r
stood, in com m and an d safe beh in d his uniform .
S ettin g his h a t stra ig h t again he knew he did n o t believe
th e little scene he h ad ju s t co n stru cted . H e could n ever say
it ; n ever launch him self in to such a n ak ed speech. T he
know ledge w as h a rd ; like hav in g th e dream of a cushion
sn a tch e d aw ay, leaving th e elusive im pression of an im possible
com fort. Oh well. P erh ap s th e re m ig h t be a n o th e r w ay.
H e got off th e ’bus drearily. 44 A fternoon, Mr. B ra ith w a ite .”
44 H ow d ’ye d o ,” he said. W ho on e a rth w as th e w om an ?
44 W ife all rig h t ? ”
44 Y es, th a n k s .” T h a t was it, some friend of L o u ie’s. H e
rem em b ered vaguely. T h en he h ad an in sp ira tio n . 44 Y ou m u st
com e ro u n d an d see her. U s.” I t cam e o u t in a rush. 44 Y o u r
h u sb a n d as w ell.” H e only hoped she was m arried.
44 E r— th a n k y o u .” A p p a re n tly she was.
4‘ L ouie’s often said she w ished y o u ’d com e,” he elab o rated ,
th e e x c ite m e n t of his idea ca rry in g him on.
44 H as she ? O h— H ow nice.”
44 Come as soon as you c a n .” H e alm ost sh o u ted a t her,
an d read her b ew ilderm ent as pleased surprise.
Now he w ould go b a c k hom e. W h a te v e r it w as he had
com e o u t for could w ait. A nyw ay, he could n o t really rem em b er
20
PATRICIA BALL
an y reason ; it h ad been flight. B u t now it w as all rig h t. H e
th o u g h t of th e little scene he h ad trie d to live th ro u g h on th e
’bus. T h a t w asn’t th e w ay to tack le th in g s a t all. H ere was
th e ta c tfu l, satisfying answ er. H e gazed th ro u g h th e b la n k
u n in te re st of glass w indow s as he w orked it o u t, m oving from
one to an o th e r w ith th e shopping b ask ets around him .
Louie, h e’d say as soon as he sh u t th e fro n t door, guess
who I saw this afternoon. She w o u ld n ’t be able to , of course.
T hen h e’d tell her w h a t h e’d done. In v ite d one of her friends
for an evening. W ith o u t p ro m p tin g and pushing. J u s t done it.
I th o u g h t y o u ’d like it, y o u see— t h a t ’s how h e’d finish up.
A nd she’d know he was apologising for these silences, at least
she w ould w hen she got over th e first surprise a t his doing
such a thin g . B u t th e n , he fastened on to a n o th er p o in t,
w ouldn’t her surprise m ake her realise even m ore th a t h e’d
been w orried, th a t he w an ted to ease th is strain ed atm osphere.
Now th a t he h ad w orked him self, in his new hope an d
ex citem en t, beyond th e fringe of his feelings, he knew ju s t
how m uch he did h a te th e situ atio n . T his m u st p u t it rig h t.
I t w ould. H e knew it w ould.
A b rig h t haze se ttled over him as he w en t hom e. Louie
an d him self all rig h t again. All rig h t w as th e only w ay to
describe it. T here was so m uch to it ; b u t he did n o t m ean
h arm o n y afte r discord, u n d ersta n d in g afte r disagreem ent. H e
m e an t all rig h t. T h a t was enough. I t m ade him feel com fortable
in his coat and a t ease in his pockets.
S h u ttin g th e g ate beh in d him , savouring th e m o m en t
before he w ent in, he saw som eone going b y on th e o th e r side
of th e road. T he im pression was v ague— a m oving figure—u n til his eye and his m em ory clapped to g eth er. I t was th e
sam e w om an. L ouie’s 64 frie n d .” Q uestion m ark s jo stled in
his head, an d suddenly faded o u t again, leaving him looking
a t his h an d gripping th e wood of th e gate. H is eyes, as he
rem em bered, were trac in g th e p a tte r n of th e graining, an d
restin g on th e b it th a t was peeling off.
She lived fu rth e r dow n th e road. She used to call for
th e ir savings m oney d uring th e w ar, and c h a t to Louie for
D U M B SHOW
21
a few m inutes on th e doorstep. L ike a d ying leaf L ouie’s casual
voice san k in to his drooping m ind. 46 I w onder if th a t little
w om an who used to com e here for th e m oney is still a b o u t.”
^ ell, he could te ll her she was. H e could m ake a whole
sentence a b o u t it. T hen he could tell her he h ad hailed her as
an old friend. W h a t w as th e use ? H e w atch ed his feet w alking
up th e p a th . H e cou ld n ’t even rem em b er who her friends were,
t h a t ’s w h a t she’d say. A nd she was rig h t. Fool. W h y did he
th in k he could do a n y th in g to p u t th in g s rig h t ?
H e tu rn e d his key in th e lock and kicked aside th e corpse
of his b u o y a n t m ood as he b an g e d th e door. All rig h t. W h a t
did th e w ords m ean an y w a y ?
L ouie h eard th e k ey and th e door bang. T here he w as a t
last.
here th e m a n w ent to she cou ld n ’t im agine. P erh ap s
th is once h e’d com e b ack different. A nd ev e ry th in g w ould be
all rig h t again.
She looked a t him on th e p eak of th is th o u g h t, an d tu rn e d
aw ay w earily. W h a t was th e use ? I f h e’d only try to do
som ething. I t w o u ld n ’t m a tte r w h at. B u t he never did.
P. H . B eahan
TIN IN LOVE
A sheet of cheap tin ,
To c la tte r th e stre e t
To m ake th e rain d ro p s wince
To give a ch e ap -tin shine
in th e sun
W ere m y wishes.
To curl to a can
K eep a peach from th e ro t
P each and I for th e ta b le
of th e gods
A re m y needs.
M y final ru stin g
In a m ud of stalks
I ’d endure
F or m y need to h av e been
th e keeping fresh
Of th e food of gods.
23
R on ald B a la a m
ON THE SIDE OF THE ANGELS
M E M B E R O F AN U N IM P O R T A N T fam ily in O stia.
C laudius T im archus P olybius, know n la te r to his church
as S ain t W alaric, led an u n ev e n tfu l life u n til he was
th irtv -se v e n , w hen, h aving no w ork to do to keep him self
occupied, he was discovered in a p lo t again st a local m a g n ate,
an d forced to fly. F orcibly b roken o u t of a provincial life he
found he g rea tly enjoyed tra v e l, b u t he was possessed of few
com m ercial abilities, an d aw ay for th e first tim e from his ow n
fam iliar p a rt of th e c o u n try he was h a rd p u t to it to live.
So he offered him self to th e C hristians, w hom h e’d jo in ed a t
th irty -o n e , as a m issionary, and set o u t on some carefree and
p le asa n tly successful expeditions. H e had , he learned , a flair
for languages w hich m ade him valuable, an d he was easy to
get on w ith.
T ravelling near th e n o rth e rn fro n tier of I ta ly he h eard o f
a som ew hat m ysterious trib e w hich k e p t itself to itself, an d
was locally regarded as being of th e elect. In spite of th is, th e
su rro u n d in g trib e s w ere grow ing resentful of th e m eth o d s used
in m ain ta in in g th is supposed superiority. W h a t he learn ed of
it m ade W alaric perfect him self in a dialect th a t th is trib e of
G epids w ould u n d e rsta n d , and set out in some pom p (he w as
now a bishop) to co n v ert them .
H e found th a t p a rt of th e ir re p u ta tio n cam e from th e ir
inaccessibility, secure as th e y w ere betw een m o u n ta in s an d
sw am ps, and p a r t from a superb backw ardness in m a tte rs
social and religious— th e y k e p t to tra d itio n s w hich had lapsed
centuries before in th e w orld aro u n d th em , and w hen w ord of
th is leaked out it to u c h ed some chord of m em ory in th e peoples
aro u n d who felt th a t som ething ancient and therefore effective
was being practised.
T he G epids were q u ite satisfied w ith th e ir own religion—
th e y w orshipped a grove of oak trees. W hen th e tim e cam e
to m ake an im p o rta n t decision w hich w ould affect th e w hole
24
R ONALD BALAAM
trib e th e y w ould ra id in to th e ir n eighbours’ lan d s an d re tu rn
w ith half-a-dozen m en or so— since th e y h ad a v ery good reason
for preferring th e stro n g est, th e ir raid in g -p arties w en t in
u nnecessary stre n g th , and w ould even th e n w ait u n til th e y
could cu t off a single m a n — th e G epids h ad never h ad a g reat
re p u ta tio n as fighters. R e tu rn e d w ith th e ir v ictim s th e y b o u n d
each one w ith his face to an oak, an d all th e m en of th e trib e
filed ro u n d th e group an d gave each a lash w ith a le ath e r th ong.
Those who survived one such circuit w ere th e n rew ard ed for
th e ir endurance b y sim ilar tr e a tm e n t in th e second, th e G epids’
o b ject being of course to discover w ho h ad th e g re a te st sta y in g
pow er. T he one who didn^t die w as ta k e n aside, and, alth o u g h
carefully guarded, m ade m uch of. H is w ounds were healed :
he becam e an h o n o rary m em ber of th e p riesthoo d , an d as such
was e n title d to a ce rtain deference from th e people of th e trib e.
W hen he was qu ite b e tte r an d in full h e a lth he w as ta k e n
b a c k to his sam e tree and tie d again, th is tim e facing o u tw ard s.
H e was th e n carefully disem bow elled, and th e au g u ry for th e
G epids’ n e x t m ove rea d in th e still living entrails. As th e y
w ere clum sy surgeons th e G epids h ad gone to th e tro u b le
m entio n ed above of finding a stro n g m an , b u t even so th e
sacrifice w ould often die before th e p riests h ad m ade th e ir
reading. Som etim es all th e m en w ould die u n d er th e lashing,
or th e surv iv o r refuse to get b e tte r, and th is is w hy th e G epids
were so long in m aking a g rea t m an y im p o rta n t decisions as
to have gained a re p u ta tio n for being u ltra -c o n serv ativ e.
W alaric w as in trig u e d w hen he learned of th is archaic
procedure. T hey had been so im pressed b y his ap p earan ce an d
retin u e, if n o t b y his doctrine, th a t th e y ’d done him th e hon o u r
o f p u ttin g th e decision to th e ir gods in th e ir tim e-h o n o u red
w ay, and W alaric saw a m eans of m aking his p o in t in line w ith
local tra d itio n . One of his follow ers w as a conv erted b a rb a ria n
w ith im m ense stre n g th an d fo rtitu d e in his sm all enough b o d y —
he h ad been tra c k e r an d h u n te r in A frica, an d him W alaric
offered to th e oak grove in a co m p etitio n w ith an y tw o m en
of th e ir own religion. I t w as u n u su a l for th e G epids th e m ­
selves to be set to au g u ry , b u t th e chieftain agreed an d selected
ON THE SID E OF THE AN G ELS
tw o to u p h o ld th e established faith , an d all th ree m en w ere
p laced in position. W alaric him self w ith th e chieftain led th e
long line of zealous thon g ers, and he was ju stified in his gam ble
w hen th e second G epid expired d uring th e fo u rth circu it—
w hich w as com pleted a t W alaric’s req u e st to show th a t his
side h ad an am ple m argin.
M atters were th u s in abeyance u n til th e m a n w as fully
healed, a le n g th y enough process. I t was u n fo rtu n a te th a t th e
local priests w ere conservatives of th e conservative, an d th e y
w ere, alas, so little ad e p t a t th e su b seq u en t disem bow elling
th a t th e fellow w as d istra c te d from crying o u t in th e local
to n g u e th e convincing te s ta m e n t w hich h ad been carefully
ta u g h t him . T he bishop to o k it on him self to tra n s la te
ap p ro p ria te ly w h a t his m an h ad been saying in his own
language : th is th e priests queried because of th e to n e of th e
u tte ran ce s. T hey held th a t th e a u g u ry h a d been firm ly on th e
side of th e trees : th is th e bishop queried, th o u g h w ith less
effectiveness, on th e grounds th a t a m a n from a far p a r t of th e
w orld w as d ifferently co n stitu te d w ithin.
A gain, a deadlock, w ith local feeling h ard en in g ag ain st th e
stran g ers. F o rtu n a te ly , W alaric h ad found in th e ch ieftain ’s
co n so rt a rea d y ear, a n d w as able to p u t to h er th e less
sp ectacu lar b u t m ore logical aspect of his case as h e’d been
tra in e d to, w ith its em phases on a fu tu re security. She learned
in c id en tally a g rea t deal ab o u t secular R om e, w hich helped her
decide for th e new faith . She w orked on her m an for a w hile
u n til he tu rn e d too, an d th e w hole trib e w as inform ed th a t it
w as enlightened and progressive bey o n d its fo refath ers, and
h ad th erefore a d o p ted th e o u tla n d e rs’ new creed. On learning
th a t th e (slight) risks of th e raid s afte r saerifice-victim s were
end ed th e y w ere well pleased, and an y d o u b ts th e y m av have
k e p t w ere dispelled w hen th e y saw th e oaks calm ly su p p o rtin g
th e bodies of th e form er p riesth o o d w hich h ad raised some
objection. T here w as no abso lu te b rea k , an y w ay — th e ch u rch
w as b u ilt of th e once sacred oak, th e scourging of O ur L ord in
H is P assion was seized u p o n w ith a respectful n ostalg ia, and
v ario u s an n u a l feasts w ere m oved a d ay or so to fall on calen d ar
feast-d ay s. All w as well, an d envoys were sen t to Rom e.
26
R ONALD BALAAM
L n fo rtu n a te ly , th e G epids’ reform m ade no difference to
th e h a tre d th e ir neighbours h ad for th em . I t h ad been growing
for some tim e, and a tra d itio n a l h o stility h ad now been su n k
so th a t several 44 kingdom s ” joined to g e th e r to e x term in a te
th e G epids. In th e first enco u n ter of h e a th e n an d C h ristian
W alaric received a m o rta l w ound. As he lay in th e forest to
w hich th e trib e h ad fled on th e loss of its tow n sh ip his m ind
w as inspired for th e sa lv atio n of his people, an d for an h o u r
he ta lk e d to th e chieftain, foretelling his fu tu re m ig h t an d ,
m ore im m ediately im p o rta n t, outlining his strateg y . D uring
th a t hour he w as possessed of a m ilita ry science u n k n o w n to
his w orld : he ta lk e d of am bushes, m ock re tre a ts, offensive an d
defensive coalitions. T hen he died, and th e sorrow of th e
G epids, who h ad liked him , w as te m p ered b y th e ex citem en t
of th e g reat th in g s th e y w ere to do.
W alaric’s p la n succeeded, an d th e secretive, unaggressive,
in e p t G epids becam e m asters from th e D an u b e to th e Albis.
R om e w as doubly in terested . T here h ad been only th e one
m essage from W alaric, an d in view of th is ra p id triu m p h th e y
m u st send to him a co n g ra tu lato ry envoy. This found th e king
of th e new G epid dom ains in his new ca p ital, still a C h ristian
in nam e, b u t w ith only tw o R om ans in m inor orders to advise
him . T hey were grieved to h ea r of W alaric’s d ea th , an d
im m ediately assum ed p roper control of th e sp iritu a l life of th e
kingdom , w hich h ad been hovering a b o u t th e old, th e new ,
an d various in c id en tal religions belonging to th e conquered
trib es. D eeply im pressed b y th e k in g ’s stren u o u s p raise of
W a la ric’s acum en th e y heard of th e w ay in w hich he h ad
spread th e faith so widely. T he king, w ho h ad been learning
a b o u t R om an w ays from his tw o clerics, seeing th a t th e m a jo r
pow er w ould soon be seeking an alliance w ith him , w as n o t
above securing him self some im m ediate kudos. H e affirm ed
th a t W alaric’s rem ains h ad been borne in to b a ttle w ith th em ,
an d th a t a t th e critical m o m en t th e dead h an d h ad flung
a dagger in to a m an a b o u t to strik e dow n th e king. T hese relics
were k ep t a t th e old ca p ita l w here W alaric h ad first com e to
th em , b u t could be b ro u g h t if th e visitors w ished. T h ey did
so w ish, an d a sm all troop w as sent to recover th e b ody.
ON THE SID E OF THE AN G ELS
27
I t failed to id e n tify it, b u t th e m en w an te d to go on living
them selves, an d so b ro u g h t a featureless corpse b ack to th e
co u rt, preserved in a plain oaken casket (later it was elab o ratelv
carv ed w ith scenes from W alaric’s life). T he due te stim o n y of
th e G epids sent th e envoys b ack to R om e w ith a case for
b eatificatio n — th e G epids h ad in d isp u ta b ly carried th e faith
far afield, and swore th a t it was W alaric who h ad guided th em
living an d dead, an d th e ap p licatio n w as approved.
T he relics of S ain t W alaric w ere k e p t for a few cen tu ries—
a te m p o ra ry ascendency of E a ste rn trib es saw th e m desecrated
an d scattered , b u t as th e y h a d n ’t been a u th e n tic no g reat
h arm was done.
A lm ost none of th is sto ry is of an ennobling n atu re .
A lthough I ’ve stressed r a th e r th e p a rts th a t seem m ost alien
to us to -d ay , th e re w asn ’t a g reat deal th a t ivould g ratify th e
m odern devout. B u t th e th in g of b u rn in g im p o rtan ce is, th a t
from th e calm , civilised centre, th e W ord w as going ou t ab o u t
to th e w orld. This clum sy, b lo o d th irsty , accidental h isto ry of
W a la ric’s h ad b ro u g h t a large p a r t of E u ro p e u n d er th e to u ch
o f all th a t is g rea test in m an. I t w as to be long before R om e
could fully assert herself—or even p re v e n t herself from being
c o rru p ted b y th e o utsiders— b u t th e p a tte r n of tr u th had
ex ten d ed itself a little fu rth e r, an d h ad gained in richness as
in stren g th . A nd y e t people disagree th a t th e end ju stifies
th e m eans.
29
R o b in etta A rm felt
AUNT AND ELECTRICITY
H E N I F IR S T K N E W G re a t-a u n t H a rrie t she was
a no rm al, sp ry old la d y of sev en ty , living b y h erself in
a sm all m odern house in a q u ie t p a r t of H astin g s.
I n h er y o u th she h ad been one of th o se b rig h t an d d aring
y o u n g th in g s w ho sm oked cig arettes w hen it w as still n o t
q u ite done, and sham elessly a d m itte d to m odelling for
im pecunious young a rtists. As she grew older she k e p t her
b rav e o u tlook an d th e desire to be m odern a t all costs, b u t
u n fo rtu n a te ly lost her a b ility to grasp new ideas ; consequ en tly ,
she lived in w h a t seem ed to her a dangerous an d tirin g w orld,
w here an y th in g m ig h t explode an y m inute. H er house reflected
h er own confusion of sp irit : its fu rn itu re , its pictu res, its
a tm o sp h ere an d even its smell w ere heav ily E d w ard ian :
so w as th e y ap p in g little sleeve-peke, N apoleon, w ith eves like
w et b lack m arbles, expressing n othing. I t w as r a th e r a shock
to find a stream lin ed cream telephone, H ollyw ood stvle.
b alan ced on a w obbling w h a tn o t ; or to see A u n t approach in g
h er pressure-cooker w ith ste a lth , her arm s covered b v b u lk y
sleevelets m ade from several ovencloths.
T he only really odd th in g ab o u t A u n t w as her com plete
failure to u n d e rsta n d th e sim plest facts ab o u t electricitv.
Ja m e s T h u rb e r’s g ran d m o th er h ad a w eird idea th a t poisonous
e lec tricity w ould leak from an e m p ty socket if th e w all sw itch
were left on, b u t th is was n o th in g com pared to A u n t’s idiosvncrasies. Two facts had m anaged to p e n e tra te th e b a rrie r of
eager obtuseness w hich she h ad set up, and all her dealings
w ith electricity w ere conditioned b y th e m : ru b b e r insu lates,
a n d electricity can som etim es give one shocks.
A u n t to o k no chances. E v ery tim e we to o k a tro lle v -’bus
to reach th e shops along th e prom enade, we had to w ear ru b b e r
galoshes. N o t even N apoleon w as ex em p t : he h ad little ru b b er
bootees w hich closely resem bled th e ferrules on in v a lid s’
w alking sticks. A t first I found it fa in tly am using, b u t th e
W
30
R O BIN ETTA ARM FELT
n o v elty soon w ore off w hen th e w eath er began to get h o tte r,
an d I cam e to feel decidedly foolish in such highly u n su itab le
flapping footw ear. N oth in g I said could persu ad e A u n t th a t
th e re w as no need to in su late herself from tro lley -’buses, n or
could I p rev e n t her holding th e telephone receiver a t least six
inches from her ear (in case she received a shock). T his m ade
’phone conversations v ery difficult, p a rtic u la rly as A u n t
blam ed ev e ry th in g eith er on th e ’phone or on th e caller.
\ isits to th e hairdresser w ere a n ig h tm are for b o th of us ;
for A u n t, because she was terrified of th e drier, an d for m e
because I w as afraid of offending A u n t b y h av in g a fit of
giggles. I ju s t sa t th e re try in g to co n c en tra te on a w om en’s
m agazine, all th e tim e shaking w ith suppressed h y sterical
laug h ter. F o r A u n t was ce rtain ly an am using sight. She sat
rigidlv on th e edge of her chair, her head h ard ly u n d er th e
drier, her fingers in her ears, and her eyes tig h t sh u t.
O ccasionally, she ap p eared to be m u tte rin g some in c a n ta tio n ,
b u t th e noise of th e d rier m ade it q u ite inaudible. I could
only presum e th a t she was reciting some form of poem to
d istra c t her m ind from th e dangerous m achine a t w hose m ercy
she was, an d it w as several m o n th s before I found o u t w h at
it was.
W e h ad m ade an a p p o in tm e n t for four-fifteen on a d rea ry
d ay in M arch. I t was b itte rly cold, w ith a stro n g east w ind
th a t dried th e sea-spray alm ost as soon as it was splashed up
on to th e p a ra p e t. A u n t was in a difficult m ood, as th e re h ad
been a pow er-cut m ost of th e m orning an d she h ad h ad a cold
lunch. W hen we arriv ed a t S im one’s, she began ordering th e
a ssista n t aro u n d an d tre a tin g her like an inferior so rt of la d v ’s
m aid — calling her 64 girl,” and som etim es even 44 m y good girl.”
H ow ever, th e sham poo w as com pleted w ith o u t m ishap :
and soon A u n t was safely u n d er th e d rier (not th a t she w ould
have called it 44 safe ” ), m u tte rin g aw ay as usual. She h ad
h ard ly been u n d er te n m inutes w hen there was a sudden
pow er-cut, and every drier in th e estab lish m e n t w ent q u ite
dead. I gazed a t A u n t, fascinated. W ith her eyes closed an d
her ears blocked, she h ad a p p a re n tly n oticed n o th in g , an d her
A U N T A N D ELECTRICITY
31
clear voice was ch an tin g , from u n d er th e silent m achine :
64 alp h a, b e ta , gam m a, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, th e ta . . . ”
over an d over again. T here was n o th in g I could do a b o u t it
sh o rt of shaking her, an d I did n o t dare try . So I sa t an d
listen ed as th e conversatio n from th e o th e r cubicles slowly
faded aw ay in to surprised silence. Soon, a b u n ch of curious
w om en w ith coiffures in v arious stages of incom pletion g ath ered
in th e doorw ay of our cubicles, looking a t A u n t’s tran ce-lik e
face in alarm . She m u st have sensed a d istu rb a n ce , for she
opened her eyes, realised th e drier was no longer w orking, and
a fte r one b rie f look of jo y and relief, w hich she qu ick ly
concealed, she shou ted for th e m anageress and dem an d ed th a t
an electrician should be fetched im m ediately. In v ain we trie d
to explain th e pow er-cut. A u n t h ad decided th e m achine had
gone w rong— p erhaps dangerously so— an d th a t w as th a t. The
o th e r w om en h ad now been coaxed b ack to th e ir ow n cubicles,
an d th e m anageress, fearing u n p leasan tn ess, decided th a t for
th e good of th e estab lish m e n t she h ad b e tte r h u m o u r th is
u n d o u b te d ly m ad w om an and send one of her m inions for an
electrician.
A n electrician soon arrived. H is face, w hich was pale an d
p itte d from cholera, show ed apprehension, and he cre p t ro u n d
th e door as if he expected th e m adw om an to fly a t h im an y
m in u te. A u n t to o k to him a t once. H ere a t la st was a m an
w ho ap p ro ach ed these dread fu l m achines w ith su itab le ca u tio n
an d respect. She was charm ing to hjm , and he rap id ly forgot
she w as a lunatic. Soon, w ith infinite patience, he was describing
pow er-cuts and hair driers in language w hich even A u n t could
u n d ersta n d . She confessed her dislike of hairdressers to him ,
an d he assured her th a t he could fix up one of those little h an d
driers for her so th a t she could w ash her own h air a t hom e.
A u n t w as c a p tiv a te d b y b o th th e idea and its orig in ato r.
44 J e n n y ,” she said, 44 this gentlem an is com ing hom e to tea
w ith u s.”
A y ear la ter, w hen I w as passing th ro u g h H astin g s, and
I called on A u n t, I was surprised a t th e changed ap p earan ce
o f th e g arden, for in stea d of a n e a t, gav little p lo t, it w as a
32
CHARLES KINGHAM
wild desolation of weeds, wires and wireless aerials. A u n t, too,
w as changed. W hen she answ ered th e door she h ad a pencil
stu c k b ehind her delicatelv-shaped ear, and was w earing a
canvas apron, w ith a huge pocket full of spanners an d screw ­
drivers. 64 H ello,” she m u rm u red , vaguely, 44 I ’m afraid w e’re
in ra th e r a mess. J e m ’s ju s t fixing m y new fo o tw arm er w ith
m e.” From som ew here in th e k itc h en direction th e electrician
advanced, carrying a queer, stool-like co n tra p tio n w ith wires
sticking ou t in all directions, ty p ic a l of th e chaos w hich seemed
to have seized th e whole house. T here was d irt an d d u st
everyw here an d th e room s w ere clu tte re d w ith plugs, wires,
tools, wirelesses an d H e a th R obinson inventions. Clearly
A unt had gone quite m ad, and her m adness m an ifested itself
in a passion for electrical inventions. I only stay ed half an
hour. B oth A u n t and Jem were obviously q u ite w rap p ed up
in th e ir own concerns, and m y presence was only a hin d ran ce,
so I shook th e d u st from m y coat and left th e m to th e ir fans
an d footw arm ers.
I never saw A u n t again. She broke her neck falling from
a ladder when try in g to p u t up a new form of lig h t fix tu re,
only a b o u t a m o n th afte r I saw her. I was p resen t a t th e
reading of her will. She had left ev e ry th in g to Jem .
Charles K in g h a m
THE GREGORY FELLOWSHIPS
u n d erg rad u a tes of th is U n iv ersity do
A iiotG R EapApTear MtoANY
know th a t such Fellow ships ex ist ; it m ig h t
be as well, therefore, to say a w ord ab o u t th em . In 1949,
Mr. E. C. G regory gave to th e U niv ersity a cap ital sum , w hich
is to be draw n on to provide th e Fellow s’ stipends u n til it is
ex h a u ste d — and th is, u n fo rtu n a te ly , will p ro b ab ly be sooner
th a n w as originally expected, because of th e d ev a lu a tio n of
the p ound soon a fte r th e gift was first m ade.
THE GREGORY FELLO W SH IPS
33
Mr. G regory, who is a m em ber of th e publishing firm o f
L u n d H u m phries, was concerned w ith tw o things : first, to
enable selected young a rtists to co n c en tra te on im p o rta n t
creativ e w ork b y saving th em , for a y ea r or tw o, from th e
necessity of hack-w ork to m ake a living ; second, to help to
swell a too-sm all artistic com m u n ity in a city w hich has n o t
n o rm ally h arb o u red a rtists (w ith one n o tab le exception) for
long. In p u rsu an ce of th e second aim it w as decided th a t th ere
should n o t'b e one single Fellow ship held a t one tim e, b u t th a t
th e v should be of different duratio n s an d should overlap. A t
th e p resen t tim e, therefore, we have tw o Fellows : Mr. Ja m es
K irk u p , th e G regory Fellow of P o etry , and Mr. M artin F ro y ,
who holds a Fellow ship in P ain tin g . Mr. K irk u p cam e in 1950,
an d has p ublished since he cam e a long poem , 44 T he C reatio n ,”
an d a collection of poem s, 44 T he Subm erged V illage.” B oth
these w orks are in them selves trib u te s to th e value of th e
schem e, in th a t th e y w ould p ro b ab ly n o t have been com pleted
h ad n o t Mr. K irk u p been able to devote all his w orking tim e
to th em . Mr. F ro y jo in ed us in O ctober of this year.
C andidates for Fellow ships are selected b y a com m ittee
consisting of Mr. G regory h im s e lf; th e Vice-Chancellor, th e
P ro-C hancellor and th e Professor of E nglish L ite ra tu re , for th e
U n iv e r s ity ; and, as in d ep en d en t advisers, Mr. T. S. E liot,
Mr. H en ry Moore, and Mr. H e rb e rt R ead. To this com m ittee,
an d in p a rtic u la r to Mr. G regory for his very generous gift,
we owe our th a n k s for enabling th e U niversity, and to a lesser
degree th e people of Leeds, to becom e ac q u ain ted w ith th e
w ork an d th e personalities of some of our younger E nglish
a rtists.
34
T u rn er Odell
THE MOMENT
L et us m ake th e m o st of th e d ay of grace ;
let us redeem th e tim e th a t is lost, for perh ap s
we have b u t little left. D ea th follows us close ;
let us be well p rep a re d for it ; for we die b u t once,
an d a m iscarriage then is irretriev ab le.
— B
rother
Law
rence.
T W AS T H E L O N E L \ T IM E of tw ilig h t in th e City.
In th e steep, profound canyons of th e stree ts an d avenues
hu n g th e d u st an d sm oke of th e sp e n t day. F ro m th e riv er
on th e w est a breeze cre p t along th e stree t, close to th e p a v e ­
m en t, sw irling th e idle p apers, th e ca n d y w rap p ers, an d th e
c ig arette b u tts , d istu rb in g th e low er lay er of th a t haze w hich,
im m obile above, filled th e spaces betw een th e tow ering buildings
like m u d d y w ate r in a lake afte r th e tu rm o il of a storm . T he far
v istas dow n th e canyons of glass and stone w ere becom ing
o bscured beyond th e yellow d u st, lost in th e deepening gloom.
W alking, th e m an raised his head. O u t beyo n d th e T im es
b u ilding was th e first fa in t glim m er of th e evening star. Up
S ev en th A venue a heav y tru c k w hined in high gear along a
p a th of green traffic signals. A round th e side of th e b u ild in g
in fro n t of him th e m oving b an d of lights w as spelling o u t th e
la te s t news. T he K aesong tru ce ta lk s were still disco n tin u ed ,
the fighting was g ettin g heavier. A b la n k space, a p ause, as
th e huge le tte rs sw ept over th e w inking lights, chasing aro u n d
th e corner of the building. A cross th irty -s ix th stre e t ; it was
loom ing up black, huge, m onstrous, h u rtlin g dow n th e v a c a n t
av enue ; th irty -se v e n th stree t, th irty -e ig h th , th irtv -n in th .
T h en th e re began som ething ab o u t an eclipse. O f th e sun.
To be th e n e x t m orning, a t daw n. A n a tu ra l p h enom enon,
over th is artificial island of concrete and steel an d glass. H is
a tte n tio n was arrested , fixed on th e m oving le tte rs as he step p ed
off th e curb. F o rty -first, forty-second ; darkness itself, com ing
I
THE MOM ENT
35
fast, o u t of th e gloom w ith a scream of b rak in g ty res rip p in g a t
th e b lack asp h alt. I t w as as if a huge h an d h ad stru c k him
from beh ind, pressuring him forw ard, th e n dow n, as his face
an d skull w ent in to th e p av e m e n t.
W hen he ste p p ed from th e stre e t on to th e opposite side­
w alk it w as still tw ilig h t, an d he felt incredibly lonely. W hen
she m oved to w ard him from th e deeper shadow of th e b u ild in g
he w as glad to see her, as he w ould h av e been to see an yone
in th is o b sc u rity an d th is silence. H e said :
Y ou are th e one ? ”
*6 Yes. B u t it is la te .”
“ B u t— w hich one ? ”
“ Come. I t is late. I will show you th e w ay .”
W hen she to u c h ed his arm w ith her h an d , th e re cam e w ith
th e loneliness a feeling of reg ret, an echo from dow n th e canyons
of tim e, dim , calling to him of th in g s done and thin g s n o t done.
H e could n o t q u ite rem em ber. A grow ing sense of m isery began.
B u t th e re w as no te rro r, y et.
She led him to th e steps in th e sidew alk an d th e y w en t
dow n. A tra in w as alre ad y a t th e edge of th e p la tfo rm w hen
th e y em erged from th e passagew ay in to th e cavern of th e
sta tio n . I t w as unlike an y subw ay he h ad been in before, an d
he was puzzled. J u s t how it was different, he could n o t q u ite
tell. A gain som ething stood betw een his m ind and th e p a st,
baffling his m em ory. B u t th e lig h ts w ere n o t th e sam e, th a t
he could tell. T here w ere no bulbs along th e w alls or han g in g
from th e ceiling. T he only illu m in a tio n seem ed to com e from
b en e ath th e tr a in itself, suffusing up th ro u g h th e steel cars so
th a t th ro u g h o u t th e large room , w hich w as n o t really a room
b u t a k in d of cave, th e re w as a k in d of in te rm itte n t, freakish
glow.
She guided him on. As th e y ap p ro a ch ed th e open door of
th e n ea rest car, he trie d to rea d th e d e p a rtu re an d d estin a tio n
signs h u n g in a w indow . W ords were th e re an d a p p a re n tly
nu m b ers, too. B u t th e y h ad no significance, m e a n t n o th in g to
him . T here w as only a fa in t rem em b ran ce th a t he once m ig h t
h av e know n how to rea d th em . T h ey w ere n o t in a language
36
T U R N E R O DELL
th a t was new to him , b u t in one w hose alp h a b e t an d sym bols
he h ad long ago fo rg o tten . A nd n o t so m uch fo rg o tten , p erh ap s,
as ab an d o n ed , ca st o u t of his experience.
T hey en tered th e car, sa t dow n, an d im m ed iately th e tra in
b eg an to m ove. W h e th e r th e re w as anyone else w ith h im in th e
car, he could n o t tell. I t w asn ’t th a t he could n o t see th e m
or listen for th e ir voices. H e ju s t did n o t know . H e w as baffled,
like a m an w ho is app ro ach in g a m y stery and feels w ith in
him self a lack of th e e q u ip m en t to solve it. T he tra in w en t
faster, plunged along th e tra c k , dow n th e tu n n e l, in to dark n ess,
w hile th e u n ea rth ly illu m in atio n flickered aro u n d th em .
T hen th e re w as a slight ja r. T he tra in beg an to slow, w ith
a h ard grinding th a t shook th e car as if it were slow ing, b rak in g
ag ain st its will. I t stopped, and th e door across th e car from
th e m slid open. T hey w aitejl. T he car, th e tra in , th e w hole
e a rth and universe itself seem ed absolutely still, w ith o u t
m o tion, hung in suspension.
A b ru p tly , he w as th e re . T he girl becam e tense, seizing his
arm tig h tly , alm ost painfully, an d drew in her b re a th w ith a
sh arp w histling sound betw een her te e th . H e h ad n o t w alked
in to th e ir view, th e m an w as sure of th a t, for th e y h ad been
looking a t th e em p ty doorw ay all th e tim e. H e ju s t ap p eared
th ere, a little , dw arfish being, alm ost lost in his clothing w hich,
ex cept for his h ands an d face, enfolded him entirely .
From
his shrivelled countenance he looked o u t a t th e m th ro u g h a
p air of eyes p e n e tra tin g an d intense. A b o u t his w hole person
th e re w as an indescribable atm osphere of questio n in g , as if he
were asking th e m to recognise w ho he was. T he girl sat rigid
w ith her grip tig h ten in g on his arm as th e m isshapen th in g
lim ped across th e en tra n ce to a seat ju s t opposite th e m an d sa t
dow n. Im m e d iate ly th e door slid closed. T he tr a in lurched in to
m o tio n and shot dow n in to th e tu n n e l, furiously th is tim e,
alm o st fra n tically . In to th e m a n ’s consciousness th e re cam e,
as from a long d istance an d th ro u g h ages of tim e, slowly,
vag uely, th e feeling th a t he knew th e cre atu re, or h ad know n
him . T here was som ething in his m ind, b u t he could n o t grasp
it. W h a te v er it was h a d h ap p en ed too long ago, too fa r aw ay.
T he grip on his arm held him , like an iron shackle.
THE M O M EN T
37
The train sped on its mad career. The flickering light grew
dimmer, flashed less often, and then darkness was complete.
The train began to slow again, but quietly now, softly.
It stopped. They m oved to where the faint sound o f the door,
sliding back, indicated the opening. As they stepped out, the
man tried to look around for the dwarf. W hether he was still
with them, or whether he had already vanished as he had
appeared, he could not tell. The woman was beside him, pressing
him onward.
Im m ediately before them was a building. It was impossible
to determine its shape or its size, for the black substance o f
which it was constructed seemed to extend upward and away
on all sides to becom e one with the darkness itself around them.
Building and atmosphere merged, fused, partook o f the same
quality and the same nature. It was as if he were going to enter
a building that he was already inside. W ith this sensation
there came the first whisper o f terror, faint, but whose barely
perceptible voice spoke o f a finality, hidden yet and terrible.
They m oved into the building, and at once they were
inside a room : a large one it seemed at first, and then he was
not sure. The walls, which he could not see, pulsed, and at one
mom ent he felt as if he were alone in all the vast emptiness o f
space, beyond the margin o f the earth, beyond the sun, beyond
the gleam o f the farthest star, condem ned to walk down the
shades o f night, alone and forever. The next instant, as if with
the downrush o f a great black wing, and him caught beneath it,
squeezed against the flank o f utter darkness, he felt so com ­
pressed and stifled that lie choked and his limbs went rigid
against the pressure. A nd suddenly, before him there was a
sign, and the bright yellow letters running over the electric
bulbs flew across from dark to dark : T H IS IS T H E HOUSE
OF D E A T H , OF D E A T H . The last words repeated themselves
endlessly : OF D E A T H , OF D E A T H . He m oved his head
and looked at the wom an beside him. Where there had been
a face, was now an em pty skull, glimmering with the reflection
o f the flashing bulbs. Then the entire skeleton slipped, fell
apart, and crashed to the floor. The sound o f each bone as it
38
TU RN ER ODELL
struck began to echo, and the reverberations came back to him,,
loud and ceaseless. He tried to scream, but had no voice, so
he shut his eyes and put his hands over his ears, tightly.
A t once there was silence, and when he opened his eyes again
there was nothing in front o f him except a small sphere o f light
and in it, the dwarf.
He was on his knees, with his hands thrown out in a
gesture o f supplication. As the man stood looking down, in the
sudden hush and with the sign o f doom and its flickering lights
for the mom ent gone, there came again, stronger than before,
the feeling that he knew this being, or had known him, or
should have known him. And suddenly the m em ory was there,
clear and vivid.
It was a wild, storm y night, a long, long time ago, and the
rain slashed viciously against the windshield as he drove the
automobile along the parkway, plunging through the Connec­
ticut fields toward the teem o f the City. The beam o f the
headlights had picked it out o f the gloom and the blur o f rain :
a small, shapeless heap b y the roadside, just showing above
the top o f the grass.
He looked in the rear-view mirror and
saw the lights o f several cars coming along far down the road
behind him. Surely one o f them would stop. Besides, it was
probably nothing but an old piece o f canvas torn from the
back o f a speeding truck. For a m om ent he heard the drumming
o f the rain on the car’ s bod y and the shriek o f wind outside.
W ithin an hour he would be in the City, inside the tall apartment
building, in the warm glow o f the electric lights, and in his
familiar room , quiet, enclosed, and insulated. This thing out
here, whatever it was, beside the highway, in the crying wind
and rain, was no concern o f his. One had one’ s own work,
one’ s own affairs to attend to ; one was not involved here.
All one had to do was to drive on, keep going. A blast o f wind
shook the autom obile, the rain seemed to come down harder,
and with the slight, rocking m otion o f the car an uneasiness
stirred at the back o f his consciousness. This in itself did not
overcom e the inertia o f riding on into the night, and it was an
effort o f the will that finally m oved his foot from the accelerator
THE M OMENT
39
to the brake pedal. He ran up on to the tu rf b y the edge o f the
road, stopped the car, pulled his coat collar up around his neck,
and with his torch in one hand stepped out into the storm.
It was quite a way back to where he had seen the thing, and
before he reached the spot, the lights o f the cars following
flashed past him and away down the concrete pavement. He
walked on and presently the thin ray o f the torch found it on
the grass. He recalled how the b oy , his back broken b y the
blow o f the speeding car, had died long before he could wave
down the next driver that came along the wet highway. But
as he had first bent over the inert form and stretched out his
hand to turn it over, the b o y had lifted his head from the
ground. Out o f the loneliness o f the wild night and the storm,
in the small circle o f light, ju st before the shadow o f death
began to pass over his face, there came an expression o f
recognition, o f gratitude, and, at last, o f peace.
All this he saw mirrored in the face o f the dwarf, kneeling
before him in the strange little sphere o f light. As before he had
been the only one to help the boy, called from the night to be
with him at the hour o f death, so he now knew it was only he
who could help this being, for it was only to him that the
strange creature was calling. And as he slowly stretched out
his hand toward the face o f the dwarf, the change began to
com e.
(Somewhere else, now, it was the lonely time o f twilight,
and a huge, black truck had halted, while people were running
out into the street : 44 God, how horrible !— His head, crushed
right into the pavem ent.— The fool, couldn’ t he see where he
was going ?— That driver, going much too fast.” While above,
through the haze and m urky gloom o f the dying day, the
vellow lights o f the m oving sign winked around the corner o f
the building, and, farther yet, while the three great bodies,
earth, m oon and sun swung through space to their appointed
accord, out farther yet, glimmered brighter the evening star.)
But here, now, see, the change ! W hile his hand moves to
help toward the shrunken face, it grows, fills, and the circle
o f light with it. W ithin the man hung between doom and life
40
JAMES K IR K U P
it begins too, and now— see how it goes !—
out,
out,
out o f the final ember, the last efforting spark
o f his will, flares, bursts, and rends the encroaching night with
fire terrible, terrific, bright, brighter, incandescing the gloom
o f final dark itself with, afar, the call o f trumpets from b eyon d
an east o f dawn-dark hills comes a hope, a promise, a help,
a hand-not-hum an, lifting from the mind, the heart, the groin,
the vitals, and carrying with the seared speed o f zig-zag
lightning in one all-inhaled breath (never forgotten the
swiftness, the power) to the final, ever-sounding note, pure and
clear and fine, to the cool fire, to peace— to touch the face o f
Radiance Itself.
James Kirkup
PEACE IS THE WORD
Put away opinions, for they are proud,
And pride is a creeping sickness o f the mind.
Judge not. Self-righteousness becomes the loud
Anger that makes men and nations blind.
Do not be led. But go your way in faith.
Trusting the new words that your heart will give you.
W ith acts o f love describe the means o f truth !
Peace is the word. And peace be with you.
David Marno
LAMENT FOR ICARUS
With acknowledgments to Robert Holmes , whose
poem 66 Icarus ” first interested me in this theme.
Tricked in the sun’ s hot web
He pioneers no more.
His waxen wings sun-riddled
Droop anaemically at low ebb,
And make him victim to the seas’ reduction rite.
Now his scant wings furl him in a bud
That never opens to the deep refracted light,
And sea-wracks’ thin fronds
Leach to his unguarded loins,
And fondle his amorphous thighs.
The curly sea-shell at his fragile ear
Whispers reminiscences, or hollow lies,
And twitching dolphins’ fins
W innow his limp hair,
And fan it out among the rocks.
His tattered nerves unwind upon the tides.
As they unflesh him,
As they reduce him
To a singing rib,
That glitters on the crusted reef.
He, a green sprig o f jo y ,
Is amputated from our vital tree,
Y et all is not loss
W ith loss o f lovely boy,
For Icarus is ever part o f me.
Charles Kingham
PRO PATRIA
He is dead, and a hero.
W ho, living, would face no problems ;
Shunned the hard road ; sought always to avoid
The lizard coldness o f the inward eye.
A rootless extrovert, throwing his life,
Its tension unresolved, on to the board
In one foolhardy wager, forfeited his stake.
For his death they chant
W ho called themselves his friends, his kin,
Y et could not come to terms with his necessity,
Saw not in him indecision’ s shadow
Lowering behind his every decision.
They dismissed his dilemma and were glad
To shelve responsibility for him : “ A good thing
H e’ s joined the A rm y— make a man o f him .”
But it killed him first.
None the less, they were right in a way ;
He learnt, although too late, his lesson.
Having com m itted himself once, and irrevocably.
He glimpsed the possibilities o f resolution ;
N ot to accept others’ valuations, not to hedge,
To be, at whatever cost, himself. W ith his feet
Scraping the cold pavements o f his world’ s end
He learned to live ; but hadn’t any time
T o put his knowledge into practice.
Wilfred Childe
MYTHUS
The Unicorn has sea-cold nacreous eyes,
Green-glinting, and his subtly spiral horn
Is carven out o f twisted ivory ;
Most marvellous is this regal Unicorn,
And he is free at heart, however long
The earth folk bind him in chains dum bly strong..
His silver curling mane flashes out fire,
His arched neck flies on superbly fierce,
His winged feet rush forth in proud desire
As with the impetuous fury o f flung spears ;
Terrible he stalks under the ghostlv stars,
Or races serene beneath dawn’ s rosy bars.
He is the Soul-trammel his flight how long,
Y e slaves o f Time, serving this sordid world,
He shall hear again the aboriginal song,
A nd out o f your nets like a thunderbolt be hurled.
And be away, away, along the bright
Long level sands dazzling with crystal light,
Lost in the passionate exquisite delight
O f his remote airy resounding flight
Through desert wildernesses and the blue
Savannahs trembling with the last faint dew.
As it disperses in the kisses o f the sun,
As arrows from the bow so shall he run
Through the arena o f the opening morn,
This unvexed wind-swift imperious Unicorn,
While round him in the untainted auroral hour
The pearl-veined mountains open like a flower,
And the dawn turns to gold his milk-white horn—
0 blessed freedom o f the Unicorn I
44
Richard Courtney
PAINTING THE PROFESSOR
A IN T IN G IS A B A D H A B IT — at least others think it
is. I f you paint things as they look, y o u ’ll be told that vou
have no im agination, while if you paint things im aginatively
you will be told that is not how things are. W hat’ s a chappie to
do ? All I hope is that Picasso has more resistance than I have
— or that he has a better hole into which he can crawl.
Y ou m ay ask how this all started— and quite rightly.
Let us begin at the beginning.
P
W hile I was in m y first year at the Universitv. I had
attended some o f the lectures given b y one particular Professor.
A brainy bird, he was also a queer fish, with m oods that could
m atch a Persian carpet. A nyw ay, going through m v lecture
notes one day, I came across the m any drawings I had done
o f him. There and then I decided to paint the old boy.
I went round to his rooms, that were to be found in a dusty
old house, quaintly reminiscent o f a mausoleum.
44 Come in,” he said, with scarcely a word o f introduction.
44 Glad y ou ’re here. Get your stuff ready. I ’ll be back in a
m inute.” He squeezed past a bookcase, and hurtled down the
landing.
B y the time I had put the easel up, taken out brushes,
paints, oils, palette, smoked two pipes, and watched two little
boys pounding hell out o f each other in the street, he was back.
44 Ha ! ” he said, 44 now how shall I sit ? W hat about fullface.” He sat down and began to read without another
murmur. W hat could I say ? Resignedly I picked up a brush.
44 Ha ! ” he said, 44 I ’ll get m y secretary, and you can paint
while I dictate.”
I put down the brush as he went to the telephone, arid
picked it up as he sat down again. It is the onlv brush I ’ve
got. My young brother used the others to clean the dog’ s
teeth. I ’ll punch his head in, one day.
A few minutes more and the secretary appeared— somewhat
PAINTING
THE PROFESSOR
45
in the same manner as A laddin’ s genii did. In other words, she
burst, rather than entered. W ith a bang she was in, the door
had rattled on its hinges and she was sprawled across an arm­
chair that filled one wall.
66 Ha ! Take a letter ! ” said the Professor. As if I could
paint the back o f his head.
*4 To Colonel P oppett, etc., etc.” Ah, well ! the back was
as good as nothing.
So the paint flowed amongst statements b y the Professor,
re-readings b y the secretary, his corrections, her corrections,
m y hair-—that was com ing out in tufts, his complaints that
she was not concentrating, her complaints that m y beard
distracted her, and m y complaints that she should not cross
her legs like that.
A crash on the landing, and two persons were in a room
that was already overcrowded. They were obviously the
Professor’ s assistants.
44 G ood heavens,” cried the tall one, 44 H e’ s having his
picture to o k .” Then they both doubled up in laughter. The
bending o f the walls indicated approaching calam ity, and the
picture was quite bad enough already.
4* Ha ! ” said the Professor, 44 don’t know who he is—
probably represents a left-wing newspaper— he looks like an
anarchist.”
The little one grovelled on the floor in mirth. I had not
much hair left b y this time, but what there was was spread
about the com m unity.
4" D ’ you know ,” gulped the little one from the corner into
which he had rolled, 44 I think that’ s damn funny ! ” and he
went into a paroxysm , clutching vainly at the tall one’ s
trousers, who was by now clawing the air. The secretary wiped
her eyes, the Professor twiddled his moustache, and I leant
heavily against the bookcase— and I ’m a pretty heavy person.
4* B ut,” said the tall one, with his head over the easel,
44 by the dog, it’ s both sideways and frontw ards.”
4* I should think so, to o ,” I stamped, 44 if you will make
him m ove his head.”
46
RICHARD
CO UR TNEY
The tall one wrapped himself round the umbrella-stand,
quite helpless, and the secretary disappeared under the arm­
chair with a gurgle. Behind them, the legs o f the little one
waved faintly from under the carpet.
Gathering m y stuff under m y arm, and clapping m v trilby
on m y head, I fled through the door, and landed with a crash
on the landing.
Take m y advice.
I f you want to paint, paint still-life.
APPEAL
The Gryphon files have suffered years o f neglect, and when
we need to trace the pattern o f rapid change which has been
caused by the war and its after-effects we are met b v these
critical gaps. W e appeal therefore to our readers— if you have
and can spare any o f the issues listed below you would do
The Gryphon present and future a very great service if you
send them to :
T H E E D IT O R ,
The Gryphon ,
T he
U n iv e r s it y
U n io n ,
L e e d s , 2.
COPIES W E
SESSION
1940-41
1942-43
1944-45
1946-47
1948-49
1949-50
LACK
SESSION
all issues.
all issues.
all issues.
all issues.
Decem ber
February
1941-42 all
1943-44 all
1945-46 all
1947-48 all
’48 ; March ’49 ; April
’ 5 0 ; April ’ 50.
issues,
issues,
issues,
issues,
’49.
47
W. A. Hodges
THE AMATEUR THEATRE AND THE
UNIVERSITY THEATRE GROUP
HE R A P ID , SPO N TA N E O U S IN C R E A SE in amateur
dramatic activity throughout this country which took place
during the half-century which has just passed was
principally remarkable for the fact that, through it, a group
cultural activity which was for many centuries the exclusive
province o f a bored court and aristocracy which resorted to
the production o f jigs and masques as a means o f com bating
its own ennui, became an activitv in which all sections o f the
population could indulge. There may be many fascinating
psychological theories which might be invoked b y sociologists
in order to explain the situation. W ith them this article is'n ot
concerned. The im portant thing is that there is now in this
countrv a very widespread interest in amateur acting and play
production ; an interest not to be found to anything like the
same extent in most other European countries. In Germany,
for instance, where the actor is regarded as very much a
specialist, it is most unusual to find a non-professional group
outside the Universities, and even in the Universities those
groups which m ay be found will inevitably consist mainly o f
people with some future professional end to serve— students o f
Drama, intending professional producers, or other serious
aspirants to some kind o f a career in the professional theatre.
Now the British have been traditionally regarded as a
nation o f amateurs, and with a good deal o f justification.
A nd it is a weakness o f the amateur that once his particular
kind o f pursuit has becom e generally established within his
own particular com m unity, he tends to take it very much for
granted. In such a taking for granted there is a very real
danger for any cultural or artistic activity. It leads to a state
o f mind biased in favour o f accepted standards, and an accom ­
panying tendency towards a certain uniform ity o f artistic
T
48
W . A . HODGES
approach. Once this happens the situation is created in which
the activity itself becomes the forcing-bed for the seeds o f its
own cultural and artistic decav.
There is another factor, too, which must be taken into
consideration with reference to amateur theatre in particular.
W ith the increased awareness o f the Drama as an art-form
which develops in a nation devoted to amateur theatricals as
a spare-time activity comes an increasing tendency to go and
see professional productions, and then to aspire to 1,4 do like­
wise.” Superficially, this might be regarded as a helpful thing
to do. But the comm ercial theatre, precisely because it is
comm ercial, suffers even more than does the amateur theatre
from a tendency to destroy its own soul. A nd since great
artists are as rare in the professional theatre as they are else­
where— they being the only members o f their profession who
could, perhaps, afford to approach every part in an original or
an imaginative way— the amateur, in choosing the 44 standard ”
professional theatre as his teacher, is hastening still further the
decay o f his own amateurism, and consequently o f all the very
special cultural and artistic influences which only he can afford
to bring to bear upon the Drama, as part o f the com m on
artistic heritage.
The strength o f the professional, after all, does not lie in
any real enthusiasm for his part— after a longish run it m ay
easily bore him to death— but in his great experience ; an
experience which enables him to continue playing, night after
night, to a technical standard satisfactory to his audience,
however stale, however bored, however oppressed with
emotional, financial, or other personal problems he may happen
simultaneously to be. A polished technique o f this kind cannot
be acquired, even b y the most gifted mimic among amateurs,
simply by a slavish copying o f the gestures and mannerisms o f
the skilled professional. It can onlv be acquired after hard
experience in the professional theatre itself, a hard experience
which m ay, as often as not, have included as many years at
44 R .A .D .A .,” or at some similar institution, as most students
spend in reading for a degree, several ill-paid years in
provincial repertory companies, or second-rate touring shows,
THE AM ATE U R THEATRE .
49
and even, possibly, months o f unem ployment spent in haunting
the offices o f bored theatrical agents— an activity calculated to
kick every trace o f artistic enthusiasm out o f all but the rare,
rare genius, or the most sublimely stage-struck. The amateur
who cannot bring himself to face this fact is unlikely to be
very much use to any amateur group a \ hich really cares about
its artistic standards.
This is not to say that the amateur cannot learn anything
o f value in watching the average professional, but it is certainly
to say that for the average amateur to model himself upon the
average professional is to choose to play, quite deliberately,
from weakness. The strength o f the average professional, as has
been said, is a technical rather than an im aginative strength.
He is, after all. working in the theatre for his living. Acting
is his job . It is not to be expected that he will be prepared to
place his own im aginative conceptions— already deadened,
anyway, by long familiarity with, and confidence in a technique
which will steer him, even if he lacks all trace o f an imaginative
approach to his part, through any stage situation within
reason, without risk to his salary cheque— before the wishes o f
the producer (himself 44 playing safe ” in most cases) upon
whom his jo b depends. For both commercial producer and
com m ercial actor are playing to a commercial-theatre audience ;
an audience which is quite prepared to put up with a normal,
standard, conventional production, provided that the general
technical level does not fall below that point at which it begins
to wonder whether it has wasted its ticket-m oney. It does not
go to the theatre, after all, regularly looking for brilliant,
imaginative, artistic productions, or for new and adventurous
approaches to old plays. It goes simply to see a play, and if
that play is produced well enough technically to pass muster,
normally it is satisfied. I f it does get something better it will
be startled, and. perhaps, enthusiastic, but it does not insist
upon more than the average amount o f value for its money.
There is, then, clearly, no incentive for the usual kind o f
com m ercial com pany to strive for anything better. That would
be too much like hard work, and if a normal, standard,
50
W . A . HODGES
conventional production is satisfactory to the customers, they
might argue, they are not the men to quarrel with their bread
and butter. Much more sensible to leave the artistic stuff to
the struggling 64 Sunday-night ” com panies, and to the
amateurs, who do not have to depend exclusively upon the
theatre for their living.
Thus, the amateur, whilst he cannot hope to com pete with
the professional upon his own ground, has, at least, complete
freedom both to experiment and to concentrate his energies
upon the production o f plays, old or new, which, whilst thev
are not good commercial propositions, have great value to the
Drama itself considered as an art-form, and to be as adventurous
and as imaginative as he wants to be in his approach to the
established classics o f the theatre. No art-form can remain
a dvnamic influence in the cultural life o f a com m unity unless
it passes through that continuous process o f self-propagation
and rebirth which only constant fresh inseminations o f vital,
creative, adventurous imagination can maintain. And it is the
free imagination o f the amateur far more than all the efforts
o f the small, struggling, semi-professional, 44 Sunday-night ”
group, which can, in the long run, bring about the cultural
situation in which such fresh inseminations can take place.
W hat the imaginative amateur thinks about theatre to-day,
since the amateur, too, is a member o f the commercial-theatre
audience, the professional theatre will inevitably have to think
to-m orrow, or, at all events, perhaps the day after to-m orrow .
It is always the small, im aginatively-creative m inority from
which any urge to progress comes.
At the same time the amateur has technical limitations
which he cannot com pletely overcom e, that is, all the while
he remains an amateur. It is a truism in art that if one wishes
to rise above one’ s own artistic limitations, the only chance o f
success lies in first recognising the limitations o f one’ s artistic
means, as well as their potentialities, and, having once
recognised them, to strive for perfection within them. Any
attempt to work on a larger, more pretentious scale, made,
whether through sheer insensitivity, through wilful blindness-
THE AM ATE U R THEATR E
51
or through plain, unabashed arrogance, in defiance o f the
inherent limitations, is doom ed from the outset to a failure as
grotesque as it will be ridiculous. \ e t in the amateur theatre,
all too often, it is precisely in attempts o f this kind that most
o f the spare time, the energy, and the enthusiasm o f the group
are wasted. All too often, with only a poor second- or thirdhand copv o f the professional’ s technique, with little or no use
o f creative imagination, with a fear o f that very freedom to
exercise artistic originality which is the amateur’ s greatest
strength, and an inadequate amount o f backstage skill, amateur
groups launch out into attempts to revive the stale successes
o f the comm ercial theatre.
An amateur group runs the least risk o f artistic dishonesty,
and therefore o f an insincere and unconvincing production,
when it is clearsighted enough to know both its own weaknesses
and its own strength, and is thereafter intelligent enough to
strive for its own particular kind o f perfection, within its own
limitations, b y concentrating its energies only upon those kinds
o f theatre which exploit the amateur’ s own, very special
artistic possibilities.
It could, perhaps, be argued that the foregoing takes no
account o f the fact that for most amateur companies, whilst
it is not essential that their productions should show an actual
profit, it is none-the-less essential that the receipts from them
should cover production expenses. This is, o f course, quite true.
All the same, it remains a fact that there are many amateur
companies which do attempt to compromise, and which produce
64 box-office ” plays for part o f the year in order to subsidise,
in advance, the more adventurous, 46 prestige ” productions
which they feel, rightly, to be the most im portant part o f
their work.
The amateur group which happens also to be a University
group is in a very special position with regard to all the
foregoing. It m ay be in as bad a way financially as is the
outside group— although if it is this is a reflection rather upon
the University as a whole than upon the group— but for it
there can be no possibility o f the kind o f compromise which
52
W . A . HODGES
may be reached b y the outside group. Its very nature is rooted
in the nature o f the University itself. The right o f a University
to exist and to be recognised as such depends exclusively upon
its acceptance o f the prime obligation to recognise, to know,
and to disseminate all that was artistically, culturally, or
intellectually good in the old, and, out o f its experience in this
work, to develop that kind o f mature, inform ed, and, above all,
unprejudiced critical faculty which will enable it to recognise,
to know, and to disseminate all that is valuable, artistically,
culturally, or intellectually, in the new. A nd this obligation is
one which no single group, department, or society, o f all those
which go to make up the University, m ay reject. W here the
whole is dedicated, the parts which go to make up the whole
cannot but be dedicated.
A t the same time, the University group is an amateur
group. Like any other amateur group it wilfully endangers its
ow n function and nature if it directs its activities towards aping
the professional theatre. In any case it has no right to enter
into any kind o f com petition with the comm ercial theatre, or
otherwise to risk those high critical standards which, as a
member group o f a University, it cannot choose but uphold.
I f it needs to cover its expenses, and in order to do so, decides
to produce an established classic from the current school
examination syllabus for the sake o f the 44 block-bookings ”
which this will bring from the schools in its area, it still has
no right to 44 play down ” to the standards o f appreciation
which it assumes to be those o f its relatively inexperienced
schoolchild audience, at the expense o f adult standards o f
production. Its productions should be chosen ivith reference
only to the fulfilment of its share in the general obligation, and,
consequently, the only standard b v which it has any right to
judge the claim to production o f any given play, must be a
cultural and an artistic standard. There is no possibility o f
compromise. No policy which is not firmlv based upon such
a standard can be anything else but a policy o f irresponsibility,
and a denial o f the very function o f the group itself, both as
an amateur group, and as a constituent part o f a University.
53
John England
STAR MATTER
T W AS ON A SU M M E R ’S M O R N IN G o f the year 2030
that the alien space-ship landed on the Earth— a unique
event in the history o f the W orld, unless indeed, at one time
countless ages ago, perhaps before the evolution o f life, there
had been a predecessor, which is not really likely. A ny Wav.
this was the first one in recorded history, and it was a big event,
and a strange one, for Man. Its approach was heralded bv
a thunderstorm, the most violent for years, in the part o f the
country where it landed, and great winds drawing the air
upwards and blowing down fencing and boardings.
Stan Levan was the first to see it, on his way home on the
outskirts o f Burkville, a small Canadian town o f about 20.000
inhabitants— a great black globe-shape, slightly flattened and
elongated at two ends, and falling, it seemed, quite gentlv.
one end downwards-—a black dot against the sky and the
lightning, only about a mile up. There were no flames, no rockets,
no lightning swoop, as he might have expected from the
futuristic movies o f the day— just a steady descent from the
sk\. But he was not to be disappointed. It was a space-ship.
as soon all the world was to know.
It landed about three miles from the tow n, and Stan
hurried over in its direction with some anticipation.
44 Could it be a space-ship ? ” he thought.
It certainly didn’t look like a meteor, or a balloon, or
anything man-made. 44 One o f these antigravitic space-ships
the S.F. Mags talk about, perhaps ? ” he wondered. H e’ d soon
see. He saw it land ; gently as a bird it seemed, floating slowly
to the ground, and landing end-downwards. Imagine his
surprise then, when the solid rock seemed to give way like
sand beneath it— there was a terrific screeching o f rocks grinding
together and being crushed, a shrieking, rending sound like a
myriad nails being scratched down a window-pane, as it sank
deeply beneath the ground, ^\hich quaked and shuddered
I
54
JOHN EN GLAND
violently, as if a battleship had fallen on it from out o f the blue.
He stared. The thing was about 150 ft. in diameter, half in
and half out o f the ground. It was in a pit about 75 feet deep,
the rock all split and shattered round the perimeter— solid
rock you could have built a skyscraper on ! Suddenly he caught
a message his senses had been telling him for several seconds—
a lt h o ^ h he was a hundred yards away the thing was pulling
him towards it ! Not very powerfully, but quite perceptibly
it was exerting an attraction upon him.
He couldn’t understand it. Was it magnetic ?— No, he
had nothing metallic on his person, except the coins in his
pocket, and— but it couldn’t be— the iron in his blood ! The
naif thought struck him, but even as it did so he had his
doubts— a magnet strong enough for that . . . ! He began to
approach still closer to the space-ship, stealthily, and very
slowly, tensing his b od y against the ever-increasing attraction
all the time— it felt like moving to the perimeter o f a revolving
disc. The pull became stronger, and yet he was still a con­
siderable distance away. Stan Levan had only a very limited
knowledge o f physics, and yet he knew, from the force which
the thing exerted upon him at such a distance* and the fact
that it was almost certainly governed b y a universal inverse
square law, that an enormous attraction would be exerted on
anything only a few feet away from the thing— that if he
m oved just a few feet nearer he would be unable to resist its
pull. W hat then ?— he would go slithering towards it, across
the ground, faster and faster, until his bones crushed and his
body collapsed against it, and the very atoms o f his being
were spread in a thin layer over its black surface. He ran . . .
He didn’t stop until he was back at the town, and telling the
authorities o f his discovery. This was news, indeed ! Here at
last, was something for Burkville to talk about till the end o f
Time— if it survived.
B y the next morning, the investigation o f the space-ship—
from a respectable distance— was well under way. There were
some government scientists, press photographers, one or two
politicians and a host o f spectators. A metal fence was hastily
STAR MATTER
being put round it, and police were there to see all but the
scientists kept outside it. The latter quite soon found out a
great deal. The attraction that Stan had noticed was not
magnetic— it was gravitational ! They worked out the mass o f
the space-ship on the assumption that the gravity associated
with it was not artificial, but solely due to its mass, and the
answer was in millions o f millions o f tons ! Their assumption
was, o f course, not entirely justified ; from Stan’ s description
o f the space-ship’ s descent and from the absence o f anv visible
rockets or other means o f propulsion, it could only be assumed,
as Stan had brightly suggested, that some anti-gravitic device
was involved. And if a machine could counteract gravity it
seemed probable that it could also produce it. The gravitational
attraction, however, was found to be perfectly constant, and
not even the very slightest variation in it could be detected,
which was an argument in favour o f the 46 true mass ” theory.
The space-ship was emitting rays— mainly gamma ravs,
cosmic rays and neutrons— but their intensity was slight, and
would only be dangerous, the scientists estimated, at a distance
of about 50 feet, which was far beyond the limit a human
being could approach safely, anyway, owing to the force o f
attraction.
Soon, the reporters had managed to grasp some o f the
more spectacular facts and theories from the.scientists, and the
evening papers Avere full o f the most astounding tales about the
space-ship. Speculation as to the nature and origin o f the
occupants was rife— further speculation was as to why the
occupants had not yet shown themselves. Perhaps the landing
had killed them or damaged the controls, perhaps, some
imaginative reporter suggested, to everyone’ s distress, the
occupants already7 knew in some strange way^ all they wanted
to know about Earth and were preparing to depart 44 without
a w ord.”
The scientists themselves were fairly certain that the
material o f the space-ship was neutron-matter and that the
occupants, if there were any, must almost certainly be from
a cold star, a 44 white dwarf ” with a density o f the order o f
56
JOHN ENGLAND
millions o f tons per cubic centimetre— hence the intense
gravitic attraction. W hat the occupants would actually look
like was a highly interesting question, and such questions as
this the scientists debated amongst themselves. But the days
passed b y and still no creatures showed themselves to satisfy
the curiosity o f the waiting world. The magnitude o f the
crowds o f spectators each day waxed and waned. Theories grew
increasingly in numbers and im probability. 66 Aliens A ttack
Earth with Death-Rays ” was one slogan pounced upon through
a misunderstanding o f the nature o f the radiation emitted by
the space-ship, and widely believed. In vain the scientists tried
to enlighten the public, for at the same time thev were arguing
amongst themselves.
The days lengthened into weeks and still no movement.
The world grew impatient and slightly annoyed. 46 The thing
is ridiculous ! ” said the more typical politicians. 44 W h y can’ t
the scientists do something about it ? ” But the scientists,
having no wish to be made into uni-molecular films, were in
no hurry to investigate the space-ship except from a safe
distance. It seemed, in any case, to have no visible exit, and
even if there were it would certainly be impossible to force
one open with any means at man’ s disposal.
One evening towards the end o f the third week after the
space-ship’ s arrival, however, a scientist came with some
excitement to report his latest investigations to the committee
appointed to study the machine. It was thought, from the
most probable conjectures, that if alien beings existed they
would be unable to hear, taste, smell or see. There could be
no atmosphere or water or any other molecular substance upon
a cold star. There could be nothing transparent to constitute
the lenses o f eyes. Their senses, and they must necessarily
possess some, in order to be intelligent, must be entirely different
from those o f man. Nor would the aliens eat 44 food ” as we
know it ; if they needed energy with which to move their
bodies or carry out body-processes, it could only come from
atomic (and not molecular) processes— from the energy o f
radioactive disintegrations. Now, the scientist pointed out.
STAR M ATTER
57
radioactive processes differ from chemical ones in being slow,
often enormously slow.
Here he produced some rough
calculations, giving an approxim ation to the rate o f the bodyprocesses o f the aliens and, consequently, to their rate
o f motion. They were astonishing ! Although they could not
pretend to be accurate, they seemed to indicate that what to
our senses would be o f the order o f years, to them would be
o f the order o f hours. In other words, although the aliens
might be making their exit from the ship as quickly as possible
they might not appear for what, in our time-scale, would be
a period o f years. W ith this concept in mind, the scientist had
taken some careful photographs o f the ship’ s exterior and
compared them in detail with some taken shortly after its
arrival. And there, on its surface, an elliptic portion was seen
to have becom e slightly more elevated than the rest— a door !
An exit from which the aliens would not fully emerge until
perhaps many years had passed b y !
There was almost a riot then, amongst the scientists’
audience, as they saw his photographs and appreciated the
significance o f his findings. They were presented with the
apparently insurmountable problem o f communicating with
beings more alien to Man than any he had previously imagined.
W hat would they look like to Man— beings without limbs or
bodily organs as we know them, beings with mysterious means
o f locom otion, m oving more slowly than the slowest earthly
creatures, beings with minds o f unimaginable structure locked
somehow' amongst the neutrons and the quanta o f energy.
And what, in their turn, would the Earthmen and their world
look like to the aliens— phantoms who flitted about swifter
than thought in a world with the consistency o f soap-suds ang
gossamer, a world spinning in the twilight o f a dizzily revolvind
ball o f flame, the sun ?
58
PEEPS AT THE ENGINEERS
H E E N G IN E E R IN G D E P A R T M E N T , if rumour can be
trusted, is anxious to inform the rest o f the College that
they do not approve o f red College caps. W e hope that the
owners o f such ornaments will keep them for display at the
proper season and place, and not continue to offend the eyes
o f their brother workers.
T
Judging from appearances, C. N. M -b-rly is working at
a dynam o in the lab. I f you chance to see a student with his
coat off and sleeves rolled up, between 12-30 and 2 o ’ clock,
you m ay safely guess he is at a little jo b o f his own. Let us
hope he will get the machine com pleted before the end o f the
summer term. Appearances are sometimes most misleading.
Most people would think that F. L. W --d was m oderately
honest ; however, we hear that he was lately accused o f stealing
a book from Ilkley railway station. W e have it on excellent
authority that the bookseller actually followed him out o f the
station, and accused him o f theft. F. L. escaped bv telling
---------- , or rather, b y saying the book in his hand was his own
property. W hat can we expect from a non-subscriber to
The Gryphon ? W hile talking o f this gentlemen, we mav add
that Sunday breakfast is his heartiest meal o f the week !
W hen working a shaping machine, or similar took it is
always well to fasten the jo b firmly. I f the jo b tilts during
the cut, the result is often disastrous ; and is most annoying
to the operator, if he has retired some distance from his work
to show his com plete confidence in his setting o f the job . W e
offer our sincere sym pathy to Tr-bie M--re.
Another m ost annoying experience in the life o f a student
is to get a series o f absolutely correct results, and later to
discover that the stop watch which was used was not keeping
correct time.
PEEPS AT THE
EN GINEERS
59
O f course the results were genuinely obtained in the first
case ; if you do not believe so apply to St-dd-rd for further
inform ation and definite proof.
Since Mr. L. W ilson’ s paper, we hear that J-n-s has devoted
his spare hours to an exhaustive search for lost electricity from
the electric cars.
Is the rumour concerning J. D. D -v-s true ?
Everyone agrees that he has declared his intention o f
going on the stage ; some assert he has already had his portrait
taken in the role o f Samson ; others declare he is about to jo in
the 64 Midsummer N ight’ s Dream ” com pany, and has been
promised a leading part.
W h y should the rest o f our staff not follow Mr. Cl-rk’s
example ? This gentleman has changed his name to H. A. de
Cl-rk. Surely A. de Morlie and Henri de Mieres would sound
rather well ; Jean de Bonhom m e would certainly be very fine..
60
THE MEDICAL “ SMOKER”
HE F IN E ST SM O K ER we’ ve ever had.” This was the
universally expressed opinion o f those who were fortunate
enough to be present at the Victoria H otel on the evening
o f Novem ber 14th. The Committee were fortunate in securing
the services o f Mr. W . H. Brown as Chairman, and it was
a case o f the right man being in the right place, for although
he assumed ignorance o f his duties at first, Mr. Brown (ably
seconded by Messrs. Sykes and Y oung) kept us going splendidly
all night. His first act was to send cigars round the room , and
his second was to make a speech o f which the present scribe
has only slight recollection, being in such a miserable blue
funk at having to sing early on in the evening. Mr. Brown
said he had only attended one Smoking Concert in his life
before, and had not a very clear m em ory as to what took place ;
in reply to the sarcastic cheers, the Chairman denied the
implied insinuation, and proceeded to tell us how he had once
been a village organist, with fair eyes and blue hair, and how
a cruel curate had dismissed him for playing a selection from
the 44 Bohemian Girl ” slowly (what a debt the world o f
Surgery owes to that curate !). Having made an end o f speaking.
Mr. Brown called upon 44 his friend ” Mr. Tomlin to sing a song.
The latter nervously endeavoured to com ply, and drawled out
a song about having lost a cat. Mr. Swanson followed with
44 The Old Brigade,” and his masseteric action was much
enjoyed. I f Mr. Sugden were not so learned in medicine as he
is, he would, we are sure, be a rival o f W ilson Barrett. His
oratorical effort on 44 Tratle Sop,” which was the next item on
the programme, was delivered with such effect that he was
recalled, and recited 44 The W reck o f the D over Express.”
Mr. Reed warbled with wild and sym pathetic action, shrugging
his shoulders and looking upwards out o f his eye-corners in
a 44 chase me ” kind o f way, on a subject o f universal interest,
viz., 44 Girls.” Mr. Ball, our w orthy host, next helped us with
some sketches and songs. It would be quite out o f place to
congratulate him on his huge successes, but we must thank
him in print for his great efforts to entertain us. Our old
CH EM M Y LAB
NOTES
61
friend. Mr. W ilkinson, then treated us to some new and
original sketches o f the staff. His ch ef d’oeuvre was a dinner
scene introducing Professors Barrs, Trevelyan, and Griffith.
A few sentences linger in our m em ory : 64 Ah, Barrs, old man,
and you Trev., old boy, come, let us eat, drink, and be merry ! ”
44 1 say. do you know7 what made the barmaid champagne ?
Y ou d on ’t ! well, you ought t o ! ” 44 W aiter, bring us some
multiloeular cysts on toast ! ” 44 Medical students never forget
to order champagne in large doses, coch. mag. quant, suff.
ter in horis ; ” 44 Now then, ---------- , there are thirteen steps
and the last one is at the periphery.” This last quotation is
extremely deep and needs explanation.
CHEMMY LAB. NOTES
EW S IN T H IS D E P A R T M E N T is very scarce. The
summer term is not the best for lab. work. One very hot
afternoon lately we were visited by a most dejected-looking
canine.
which
roused
great
excitement.
It
ob jected
strongly to the wash-bottles with which several prominent
members o f the lab. chased him.
N
^ e heard the other day o f a very guileless first year man
asking a 44 demon ” for inform ation regarding the ’ 51 schol.
He remarked in a patronising tone o f voice, 44 Y ou got it,
didn't you, Dr. D — ws— n ? I am thinking o f trying for it
myself.
He was gently but firmly advised to wait a year
or two.
An interesting research on the acceleration o f gravity has
been proceeding in the Org. Lab. The chief experiment
consisted in dropping a dessicator down the Lab. stairs. The
investigator, Mr. Cr— sf— 1, collected the multifarious results
at the bottom .
A certain chemist, last year’ s senior prizeman to wit, has
a mission. He has spent a week or two in advocating the
62
CHEM MY LAB.
NOTES
pronunciation D on Quiote for Don Quixote. He may possibly
be right, but he has been greatly discouraged by being met
everywhere with the remark, 46 A ny donkeyoughter know
better.” (A jok e here. I t’ s as well to label them.)
Chemists want to know :—
W ill the ventilation o f the big Lab. ever be im proved ?
Might not Dr. C— h— n ’ s research on dispelling fogs,
be extended to the clearance o f the permanent
nebulosity o f the aforesaid Lab. ?
I f the Department have not paid their W ater Rate,
as, if that is the case, it m ay account for the
H 2O being so frequently cut off.
Has S. H. C. Br— ggs got his retort-stand back, and
did he get a very bad wigging ?
I f the Professor’ s allusion to 44 Bikeoyl ” was not much
appreciated b y the Hons. B. people ?
Re the Professorial Picnic.— Have all the ladies got
over the loss o f their machines ? And doesn’t
C— x— n tell ’ em beautifully.
P h e n o l P h t h a l e in .
*
*
*
W hat you have read on pages 58-62 was first printed in
Gryphon, the journal o f The Yorkshire College, for
December, 1901 (you see we’re older than the University).
The notes concern various faculties, and we invite the writers’
successors to match them, bearing in mind the changes in
The Gryphon’s character over the past half-century. — E d s .
The
44THE
THE
Joint Editors
Sub-Editors
GRYPH ON ”
GRYPH ON”
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63
STAFF
ST A F F, 1951-52
R onald
B a l a a m , T im
E vens.
R o b in e t t a A r m f e l t ,
R achel
Editorial Staff -
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P a t r ic ia B a l l , J o a n B a r b e r ,
Ch a r l e s K in g h a m ,
G erald
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Sales Manager Sales Staff
R o b in s o n .
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H oward
Editorial Advisers
H ouse.
Se l l a r s.
R o sen,
S m it h .
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The views expressed in 44 The Gryphon ” are those oj the
individual contributors, and are not necessarily those o f the
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LEEDS
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“ N U M B ER O N E ”
SER VIC E and V A LU E
O u ££ii£e>i&
LEEDS UNIVERSITY UNION
BESPOKE TAILORING A SPECIALITY
57-59, N E W BRIGGATE, LEEDS I.
O p p o site T h e G ra n d and T o w e r T h e a tre s .
L a te w ith C . J . H a rd y & C o. L td
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SCOTTISH WIDOWS
FUND
LEEDS B R A N C H : 21 PARK R O W ,
THE HALL M ARK OF
STERLING QUA LI TY
IN
LI FE
MU T U A L
ASSURANCE
Telephone ;
20585 (2 lines)
Branch Manager :
H. W . BRUM FITT
Lonnergan
Photographer
E s t a b l is h e d
1899
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1 & 3, W O O D S L E Y R D .
LEEDS 3
on\c oJ K r
o/ivo .o7lv
Specialists in
G R O U P Photography
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NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS
The National Union of Teachers is concerned with every significant
educational development, both nationally and locally, and with all conditions
affecting the professional standing of teachers in all types of Primary and
Secondary Schools and Establishments for Further Education.
The Union protects its members in every phase of their professional life :
legal advice and assistance on professional matters are given free to members.
Every profession has its organisation ; the National Union of Teachers
serves this purpose for those who are engaged in education.
JOIN N O W
Students in training may be admitted as Associate members of the Union
without payment whilst at College.
TOTAL MEM BERSH IP
1950
ACCUMULATED FUNDS
E X C E E D E D 194,000
£2,004,282
Further mivjrmation about the Union may be obtained from :—
TH E G EN E R AL SECRETARY, N a t i o n a l U n i o n o f T e a c h e r s ,
Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London, W.C. 1.
THE
Stud en ts B o o ksh o p
Come
and
look round our Enlarged Premises opposite the Parkinson
Building.
©oofes
Stationery
172, Woodhouse Lane
Leeds, 2
R IN G B O O K S
—
174, Woodhouse Lane
Tel. 22623
TEXT BOOKS
—
NOTE
bo o ks
T he possession o f an account at the Westminster Bank
can be a considerable asset during your University
life— and afterwards. T he Bank provides a variety o f
services, all o f which will help in one way or another
towards the smooth running o f your a Hairs. These
services are available to every customer whatever the
size o f his account, and the Manager o f any branch
will gladly tell you more about them
'
i
;
*
WE S T M I N S T E R BANK LI MI TED
'
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LC m a n
(£ lA > ii< \£ m a <3 @ a > i d %3
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