There are 1,321 boys at Eton and 821 at Harrow. Of course this fluctuates as boys come and go, sometimes under a cloud. Even after allowing for the greater number of Old Etonians it is apparent that the number of fictional Old Etonians exceeds fictional Old Harrovians by a big margin.
Today I thought it would be amusing to look at two OEs who left under a cloud. The first needs no introduction and need not detain us: Bond, James. The second cove has escaped the notice of Eton’s website and Wikipedia. He attended Eton under his real name, if fictitious characters have real names: John Forrest.
Unfortunately, Eton had demanded from John a higher standard of conduct than he was prepared to supply, and a week after his eighteenth birthday his career as an Etonian closed prematurely. (A Gentleman of Leisure, PG Wodehouse.)
John Forrest became John McEachern, Captain of Police in New York City, and a rather unlovable character in A Gentleman of Leisure published in 1910. I hope I won’t be drummed out of The PG Wodehouse Society (UK) but early Wodehouse does not do the author justice. The ingredients are there but it doesn’t quite hit the spot.
There is a scene in which two dogs start barking. “ … the efforts of the canine choir had begun to resemble the A che la morte duet in Il Trovatore. Particularly good work was being done by the baritone dog“. Count di Luna (baritone) is a bulldog and Leonora (soprano) a white bull-terrier. PGW had a soft spot for dogs. Tony Ring, at a Lit Fest in India, attributed PGW’s capture in WWII to his reluctance to leave his dogs behind. Anyway, imagining two dogs singing a Verdi duet is a sign of the virtuosity that PGW subsequently develops.
Another allusion in the same novel had me foxed: “There was once a gentleman who remarked that he smelt a rat and saw it floating in the air”. Perhaps 18th century Irish soldier and politician, Sir Boyle Roche was better known a hundred years ago?
Early PGW is rewarding but it doesn’t hit the high Cs in the way that his maturer novels do in cascades – is that a Boyle Roche mixed metaphor?
I saw Tosca live from the Met in Chelsea on Saturday with friends. Other friends were watching in a market town in Berkshire and Sarah was in the Stalls at the Met. Have you heard of Gogglebox? I think there should be Operabox and the six of us would make a provocative, informed, silly, off-message and often deeply offensive panel.
Today I’m starting my second career – as a dog walker. It’s a no-brainer; cocky, cocker Reggie will accompany me on a riparian ramble. Try saying that after a few cocktails. Reginald loves water – I hope he doesn’t walk right into the Thames.
When I glimpsed today’s title I thought the author was off happily blogging about his leisurely self again- but no.
It was difficult to discover a leitmotif in today’s offering, so perhaps what we really need is ‘Bloggerbox’ where followers can vocalize on the rodomontade of nonsense they are presented with, viz. notorious old boys, operatic diva dogs and Irish bull. Such a palaver, and its only Monday.
Christopher, very much enjoyed being reminded of Sir Boyle Roche. Such a jocular figure would warrant a post entirely dedicated to him ( I think your abstract followers would appreciate such a character). He surely was the most sensible fool?