Fans of Norah Lofts discussion
The Old Priory
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Narrative by Alan Heath
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Simon Tresize is surely, the best example of why male primogenture is stupid. Imagine how the OP would have flourished if Lettice had inherited! Then again, I guess the first born of either sex can be a useless tool. I agree Peggy, that Simon was jealous of Alan - do you think , knowing who his ( Simon's ) mother was, made him as he was? I don't mean inherited awfulness exactly, but the consciousness of having a mother, known as utterly *uncouth, and now under restraint and to all intents and purposes mad?
Simon seemed to regard Lettice as, more or less, a mother substitute and I suppose Alan, her actual son was a real rival in Simon's eyes.
* The Australian vernacular for this sort of person is " rough as bags". Hilarious I think.
Barbara, I had thought of Simon's mother having such a hateful temperament but since she was locked up and couldn't be a direct influence on her son, he surely did think of Lettice as a mother substitute. Norah Lofts touches on the insane in several of her books, always with the point of how badly they were treated in those times. There are some reflections in this book about how usually only the roughest characters are willing to take on their care.
"rough as bags" - that is funny!
Simon's mother was mean, cruel, and vicious, but I don't think she was insane until she was locked up and driven into insanity. I remember thinking that Arthur showed touches of insanity, especially in his treatment of Kate once she had produced the "essential" boy child. His rage toward her never ended. There was surely some other way he could have gotten her out of their lives. As it was, they all lived with the constant knowledge and evidence of Kate's torment. Does anyone remember any mention of Kate's death? I don't remember any mention of her end.
There is a mention that at some point the "howling" stopped (I think in Alan's story) and by the time Lettice was forced to raise animals in her home, the deaf/mute woman who had been Kate's "keeper" was available to help. So I always assumed that at whatever vaguely-remembered time the howling ceased, it was because Kate had died.
You know, until you mentioned it Sylvia, I hadn't though about Arthur being a bit mad . And I think you are right , he was truly obesessive about everything , about getting the land and the OP and then getting more land, and then , of course, a son and at what cost !And then, the OP was left in a sort of crazy way too, one in which problems were almost guaranteed. A bit like the way Merravey was left in Phyllis Whymark's will, setting her daughters and son at odds worse than they were before.
By the way, a very Happy Christmas to everybody on this lovely board. It's Boxing Day in Adelaide now, so Christmas is " as far away as it can be" as my mum used to say ( I don't know why )
Barbara wrote: "Christmas is 'as far away as it can be . . . .'" No, it's still here for the next ten or eleven days, isn't it? I've never been quite sure whether the "First Day of Christmas" is Christmas itself or the first day AFTER Christmas," but I have been informed that Twelfth Night is the night BEFORE Epiphany. Anyway, we can go on celebrating! (And I can send out the remaining cards that I didn't get into the mail last week ;))So Merry Christmas, everyone--all Twelve Days of it!
I'll add a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all as well!I never understood the "12 Days" either, Mary, or bothered to look it up, but now I will.
Barbara, I even think the way Arthur allowed Simon to be so spoiled and uneducated, after his own hard work in developing the Old Priory, showed a degree of madness. And I think I know what your mother meant about Christmas being as far away as it can be - my Dad always said the day after, "just 364 days till Christmas!"
Re the "Twelve Days," after I posted my previous message, I heard an announcer on my favorite radio station, a woman with a lovely British (actually South African)accent, say that today is the Second Day of Christmas. So, bless her, she was still playing Christmas music.
I grew up with the 12 days tradition, and it stuck with me although of course for many people it's back to shopping and work already!One of our local religious stations is still playing Christmas music, all kinds - right now, a country version of 'Beautiful Star of Bethehem', but they cover everything up to and including classical music. And they're a volunteer-run non-profit, so there are almost no ads. (Once in a while, they'll put on announcements from other non-profits). I really should send them a donation!
Barbara wrote: "You know, until you mentioned it Sylvia, I hadn't though about Arthur being a bit mad . And I think you are right , he was truly obesessive about everything , about getting the land and the OP ..."NL is very good at realistic descriptions of family dynamics. How often have you seen that personality conflicts, or even the best intentions of the parents when writing a will tear siblings apart?
I think some radio and TV stations continue with Christmas music, etc., not only for the 12 Days of Christmas, but for the Orthodox Christmas, which I believe is always set in January.Thinking about Arthur's will, his obsession for a son dictated that he leave the main estate to Simon, but thankfully he put provisions in there for Lettice! The will his son Simon later made was a confusion of "love"? for his first prostitute, his purely childish selfishness, and his revenge against his rule-making older sister, IMO.
Sorry for my silence here but for some reason, I haven't gotten any email updates on our group! Another instance of a oomplicated will was in The Homecoming, where Godfrey leaves the main house to Henry but the rooms built on to Tana and her heirs. Plus the sheep flock divided between all his sons. This caused some difficulties for Henry, the eldest, later on.
Simon's hostile attitude toward Alan was disturbing to me, since Lettice was such a doting sister. The end of the narrative, when Alan finds out that Simon believes he has been supporting Alan all these years, makes the hostility more clear but I also feel he was jealous of Alan.
There were two observations from this narrative in chapter two that I particularly enjoyed. Alan says "I have heard men dwell on their schooldays, the happiest years or the most wretched years of their lives. I always think that those who speak thus are men to whom nothing much happened in later life."
I agree! Also, young people should not buy into the thought that their high school or college years are to be the happiest years of their lives. How much fun would it be to live another 50 or 60 years, thinking you had left your happiest time of life in your late teens/early twenties. Believe me, kids, life gets better. Don't think the lack of responsibility equates happiness.
And straight from the pen of Norah Lofts, Alan finds out about the father of Lettice and Alan, "because boys are great gossips."
I also checked out the history of the lowly potato, which plays such a big part in the rest of the book. I didn't realize that potatoes were unknown in Europe until the time of the book. There is quite an interesting writeup in Wikipedia. I have a much better understanding of what caused the later potato famines in Ireland. The potato eventually took the place of the turnip and the rutabaga and I'm not surprised . . .