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The Man Who Ate Bluebottles: And Other Great British Eccentrics
Until he ate a bluebottle, William Buckland had always maintained that the taste of mole was the most repulsive he knew. But that was before he ate the embalmed heart of Louis XVI. Lord Monboddo believed that babies are born with tails, and was a careful observer at the births of his own children - but in each case the midwife outwitted him and managed to destroy the evidence. The Comtesse de Noailles was a keen believer in the benefits of fresh air and methane gas, keeping cows tethered near her open windows so that she could enjoy both ... These are just a few of the eccentrics who enliven the pages of this delightful survey of British loopiness through the ages, a celebration of true originals whose strength of character stands out now more than ever in our age of mass-market conformity. As John Stuart Mill warned as long ago as the 1850 'That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time.' Catherine Caufield's classic book is an immensely browsable compendium of inspired and inspiring lunacy, beautifully illustrated by Peter Till.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 13, 2012
The problem with telling stories of eccentric persons is that these folk often have a set of quirks and humorous anecdotes - and then not much more in their history. Caufield has narrowed her field to British eccentrics, and then devotes anywhere from a few paragraphs to several pages about each. The ones that are short feel - well, extremely short. For example:
"'The Scottish Homer' William Wilkie
The poet Wlliam Wilkie was once asked by Lady Lauderdale, the wife of his patron, to stay the night with them. Wilkie replied that he would stay on condition that her ladyship supply him with a pair of dirty sheets. Wlkie absolutely refused to sleep between clean sheets; and if he did have the misfortune to encounter a pair always removed them before getting into bed. A blanket was the only thing he cared for. Well, not a blanket, exactly, since he covered himself with twenty-four pairs of blankets every night.
[Skipped a paragraph here on Wilkie's preaching - he "had taken holy orders." And a line or two in here about his forgetfulness.]
Although he was a learned man, Wilkie read very badly and could not spell. He was dubbed the "Scottish Homer" after the publication in 1757 of his Epigoniad, an epic poem in the style of the Iliad. Tradition has it that Wilkie consulted only one person while writing the poem: he read each section aloud to an old village woman, Margaret Paton, changing and rewriting whatever she did not like until the whole had received her blessing."
This is a good idea of how the stories are mildly humorous - and also gives an example of how the text leaves you with more questions. I can understand not having an explanation for the sheets and blankets business - eccentrics sometimes don't have a reason for these sorts of things themselves. But you'd think with a nickname like the Scottish Homer there'd be a bit more information on that epic poem.
Which leads to the next problem - no footnotes. There's a three page "Eccentric Bibliography," but unless a book or author is mentioned in the text, or the eccentric is mentioned in the book's title, it's unclear which reference was used. Many of the references are from the 1700-1800s, so I definitely believe that the author has done her research - it's just that the primary reason of the text is to amuse, not to inspire further research. It's probably to the author's credit that I want to know more about some of the people she's chosen. And it wouldn't surprise me if there was no further information - some of these people were probably referred to only in local legends, and thus hard to track down in any written sources.
Despite this all this nittering, I'd recommend the book. The stories are amusing, and the names of the eccentrics have led me on many a merry google search. I've actually found many books in public domain - though nothing from the bibliography so far - the books I've found are authored by some of the eccentrics.
I do have to add that I'm still somewhat amazed that anyone would name their son Clotworthy. As in Clotworthy Skeffington, 2nd Earl of Masserene.
In case anyone was still wondering - the man who ate bluebottles, mentioned in the title? That would be William Buckland:
"Until he ate a bluebottle, William Buckland had always maintained that the taste of mole was the most repulsive he knew. Buckland, Oxford's first professor of geology and the father of Frank Buckland (q.v.), was remembered by Lord Playfair as 'a born expermentalist. I recollect various queer dishes which he had at his table. The hedgehog was a successful experiment. ...I thought it good and tender. On another occasion I recollect a dish of crocodile, which was an utter failure.'"
No, there's no mention of how the bluebottles were served. Or why. Yes, I'm still wondering about that.
"'The Scottish Homer' William Wilkie
The poet Wlliam Wilkie was once asked by Lady Lauderdale, the wife of his patron, to stay the night with them. Wilkie replied that he would stay on condition that her ladyship supply him with a pair of dirty sheets. Wlkie absolutely refused to sleep between clean sheets; and if he did have the misfortune to encounter a pair always removed them before getting into bed. A blanket was the only thing he cared for. Well, not a blanket, exactly, since he covered himself with twenty-four pairs of blankets every night.
[Skipped a paragraph here on Wilkie's preaching - he "had taken holy orders." And a line or two in here about his forgetfulness.]
Although he was a learned man, Wilkie read very badly and could not spell. He was dubbed the "Scottish Homer" after the publication in 1757 of his Epigoniad, an epic poem in the style of the Iliad. Tradition has it that Wilkie consulted only one person while writing the poem: he read each section aloud to an old village woman, Margaret Paton, changing and rewriting whatever she did not like until the whole had received her blessing."
This is a good idea of how the stories are mildly humorous - and also gives an example of how the text leaves you with more questions. I can understand not having an explanation for the sheets and blankets business - eccentrics sometimes don't have a reason for these sorts of things themselves. But you'd think with a nickname like the Scottish Homer there'd be a bit more information on that epic poem.
Which leads to the next problem - no footnotes. There's a three page "Eccentric Bibliography," but unless a book or author is mentioned in the text, or the eccentric is mentioned in the book's title, it's unclear which reference was used. Many of the references are from the 1700-1800s, so I definitely believe that the author has done her research - it's just that the primary reason of the text is to amuse, not to inspire further research. It's probably to the author's credit that I want to know more about some of the people she's chosen. And it wouldn't surprise me if there was no further information - some of these people were probably referred to only in local legends, and thus hard to track down in any written sources.
Despite this all this nittering, I'd recommend the book. The stories are amusing, and the names of the eccentrics have led me on many a merry google search. I've actually found many books in public domain - though nothing from the bibliography so far - the books I've found are authored by some of the eccentrics.
I do have to add that I'm still somewhat amazed that anyone would name their son Clotworthy. As in Clotworthy Skeffington, 2nd Earl of Masserene.
In case anyone was still wondering - the man who ate bluebottles, mentioned in the title? That would be William Buckland:
"Until he ate a bluebottle, William Buckland had always maintained that the taste of mole was the most repulsive he knew. Buckland, Oxford's first professor of geology and the father of Frank Buckland (q.v.), was remembered by Lord Playfair as 'a born expermentalist. I recollect various queer dishes which he had at his table. The hedgehog was a successful experiment. ...I thought it good and tender. On another occasion I recollect a dish of crocodile, which was an utter failure.'"
No, there's no mention of how the bluebottles were served. Or why. Yes, I'm still wondering about that.
May 23, 2012
A nice book to pick up when you need a quick laugh.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews