There's a call from Castle Cary; John Mackie; Parson Woodforde; R.R.C. Gregory

“Teäke I, when my zun’s-a-zet,

No vurder west nor Zomerset.”

 Ground plan of Normandy, Castle Cary

Castle Cary has a very special place in my heart. My feelings for Castle Cary, as it once was, are well expressed by John Mackie, who was a master of the Somerset dialect ("Dialect Poems and a Play", Folk Press Ltd, 1925).

There's a call from Castle Cary

When the dew be on the daisies, when the dawn be in the sky,
When the birds do start their praises in vull-droated harmony,
There's a tuggen at the heart-strings, there's a stirren in the breast,
Then once more do vlow the mind-springs droo thik message vrom the west.

CHORUS:

There's a call from Castle Cary, whispered by the western breeze,
There's a call vrom Castle Cary vrom the hedgerows an' the trees.
Vrom the grass-grounds, brooks, and uplands, vrom the dawn and close o' day
There's a call vrom Castle Cary- I must go wi'out delay.....

As someone who has spent much of his life in "vur-off lands" and who often has to 'twist his tongue' with French and Greek, I enjoy John Mackie's poem "Zomerzet"

What languages the volk do speak
To I, wold vashioned, beant no odds;
They’m vree wi’ Latin, Vrench or Greek,
To twist their tongues; but by the Gods!
Just pray I never shan’t vorget
The speech o’ good wold Zomerzet!

Some volk do goo to zee the zights
Athirt the sea to vur-off lands;
An' climb the white-capp'd giddy heights,
When scenes so veair be close at hand.
Thik view once zeed who can vorget
Vrom Lodge Hill down to Zomerzet?


I used to live in Castle Cary, close to Lodge Hill, which could be the reason why I love that last couplet:

"Thik view once zeed who can vorget
Vrom Lodge Hill down to Zomerset?"

Mackie writes in his foreword (25 November, 1925):

"If I can lay claim to any merit in the verses it is that they are from the heart, and if any of them strike a responsive chord in the breasts of my readers I shall rejoice...Some of the happiest hours of my life have been spent in the delightful company of sons of the soil in Somerset, under whose homespun coats beat some of the truest and noblest hearts in Christendom; nature's true gentlemen."

John Mackie on William Barnes, Southern Times, April 21, 1923

Parson Woodforde chronicled the life of Castle Cary and Ansford in his diary. Here's a typical extract, from September 22, 1769:

"Great rejoicings at Cary to-day being the Coronation Day. Bells ringing all day, Cudgell playing at Crokers, a very large bonfire on the top of the hill and very grand fireworks in the evening with the firing of many guns. All at Mr. Creed's, Mr. Hindley and Mr Potts and Duck's expense. I was at all...The fireworks were sent from London and were Sky-Rocketts, Mines, Crackers, Wheels and divers Indian Fireworks."

Finally, a poem by R.R.C. Gregory, from "Poems in Dialect" (1922)

and by Douglas Macmillan - published in  "From Camel to Cary"

Winterborne Came and William Barnes

Dorset has William Barnes and many beautiful small churches like that of Winterborne Came. The Revd. William Barnes, who was rector at this church, is buried in the churchyard. The church is mainly 15th century; the screen is 16th century and the pulpit 17th century.

Members of the William Barnes Society will be attending the Annual Service of Remembrance at the (redundant) church on 25th April.

Barnes may never be canonised a Saint, but he should at least be restored to his rightful place in the literary canon of the Western world (and not just in Wessex)!

"Vor I do zee that 'tis our sin
Do meake woon'es soul so dark 'ithin,
When God would gi'e woone zunsheen."


From William Barnes "The Spring".

Winterborne Came, from Dorset History Online

Maiden Castle and Jordan Hill Temples: better than the Acropolis? Not quite Sounion?

 

 Minerva/Athena

I visited two ruined temples today, Roman or Romano-Celtic.

The one on top of Maiden Castle may have been dedicated to Minerva (Athena).

With the skylarks singing on a warm day, it is almost better than the Acropolis, if not quite the Parthenon!

Jordan Hill, Weymouth, isn't as impressive as Sounion, I admit, but the view below the temple out across the bay to Portland is special. Not a bad spot from which to watch some of the sailing Olympics in 2012.

Nikos Kokantzis

I was very saddened to learn that Nikos Kokantzis, the author of the beautiful short novel "Gioconda" and of several fine collections of short stories and poetry, passed away last July (25). I only learnt this last week from another old friend from Thessaloniki. Nikos' inscription inside Gioconda:

Nikos Kokantzis, far right

Here's a note in Greek, from Perizitito.gr:

Ο Νίκος Α. Κοκάντζης (1927-2009) γεννήθηκε στη Θεσσαλονίκη. Σπούδασε ιατρική στο Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο και ειδικεύτηκε στην ψυχιατρική στο Λονδίνο, όπου έζησε αρκετά χρόνια. Η "Τζιοκόντα" πρωτοεκδόθηκε το 1975 στις εκδόσεις "Κέδρος". Παρουσιάστηκε σε σειρά 13 επεισοδίων από το Α' Πρόγραμμα της ΕΡΑ με την Πέμυ Ζούνη και τον Γιάννη Φέρτη. Η "Τζιοκόντα", η αληθινή ιστορία ενός πρώτου έρωτα δύο δεκαπεντάχρονων παιδιών στη Θεσσαλονίκη της Κατοχής, που συνδέεται με τον αφανισμό του εβραϊκού στοιχείου της πόλης, έχει ήδη μεταφραστεί στα γαλλικά, στα αγγλικά, στα ιταλικά, στα γερμανικά, στα καταλανικά, στα εβραϊκά, στα ολλανδικά και στα τουρκικά. Τον Ιανουάριο του 2005 κυκλοφόρησε σε νέα έκδοση από τις εκδόσεις "Πατάκη", ταυτόχρονα με την έκδοση της συλλογής διηγημάτων με τίτλο "Εννέα ιστορίες και ένα λιμπρέτο" και της ποιητικής συλλογής "Κουαρτέτο" (Μάρτιος 2005). Διηγήματα του Νίκου Κοκάντζη δημοσιεύτηκαν στο "Βήμα", στο "Αντί" και στην "Παραφυάδα" (λογοτεχνικό περιοδικό της Θεσσαλονίκης). Πέθανε στη Θεσσαλονίκη στις 25 Ιουλίου 2009.


I spent five years in Thessaloniki in the 1980s. In spite of the improved communications (the Egnatia highway) I haven't been back for many years. That is something I deeply regret. "Dromoi palioi pou agapisa..." (Anagnostakis/Theodorakis).

Corfu and Zagori seem to keep us in their hold. It's time I returned to Thessaloniki and to Mount Athos.