CONTENTS

PAGE

Notes—J. P. Collins     :       -       ------          l

Kipling and the Other Two—Victorian   -                                     3

Kipling at Home III— Dorothy Ponton      -                                     5

How R.K. Read " Treasure Island "                     -       -       -          7

Kipling—Poet of Empire—I.—Dr. Norman Boyes     -       -          8

Annual Conference       --------        11

The I.S.C. and Haileybury—The Rev. L. De O. Tollemache        12

Some More Kipling Parodies—Colonel C. H. Milburn, O.B.E.     13

Old Johnny Grundy Again          -       -       -       -       -       -        15

R.K.'s Masonic Allusions—Albert Frost   -       -       -       -        16

Branch Report—Auckland, N.Z. -       -       -       -       -       -        19

Kipling's Grammar      --------        20

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THE   KIPLING   JOURNAL

published quarterly by
THE KIPLING SOCIETY

Vol. IX.    No. 63.

OCTOBER,   1942

Notes

By J. P. COLLINS

IF the poet of our predilection
is looking down with human feel-
ings from the Elysian fields upon
the terrific struggle that is covering
so large a share of the earth he loved,
there must be many happenings
calculated to fill him with wrath
and grief as well as many to stir him
to pride and exaltation. How far
his memory extends to the precise
degree where he foretold this world
calamity and bade us hasten and
increase our preparations, is matter
for conjecture. But it is very certain
that one recent event is bound to
bring joy to his heart, because he
was one who loved the sea from his
very boyhood and all the daring
spirits who traverse it and keep it
free  and  safe.

A   GALLANT SERVICE.

This then, was the decision of
His Majesty to bestow on meritorious
members of his Merchant Service
some of those honours which have
hitherto been devoted to suit another
calling. The photos of Skipper Wren
and others, especially those who went
through the fearful ordeal of carrying
the last big convoy on to the relief
of Malta, show that they belong to
the category of heroes of the true
and sterling breed, from Grenville
and the Armada onwards. And even
the   ruggedest   must   be   warmed   at

heart, however modest in themselves,
to think they have been instrumental
in securing these visible proofs that
they are the worthy members of a
gallant and devoted service that the
King    delights   to    honour.

UNPAID CORRESPONDENCE.

Sir James Barrie told me once
that whenever it was in reach, he
never passed a day without reading
the Scotsman. He added that one
of its claims on his attention was
the excellent fund of unpaid corre-
spondence it printed day by day from
readers who had opinions of their
own. A running example of this
appears elsewhere in this number
in the shape of selected letters and
passages from those Edinburgh columns
aforesaid concerning Kipling and his
individuality of diction. It must be
conceded even by the unregenerate
Southron that in the main these
private contributors are usually literal,
invariably positive, and sometimes
right. But when one of them affirmed
that our poet erred in his famous
line about " the trumpets and the
shouting," he was surely going too
far.

It must be common ground on
both sides of the Border, one supposes,
that the " Recessional " is not only
a monody but a hymn as well. That
being   so,   there   was   more   occasion

2                       THE  KIPLING  JOURNAL

October, 1942

than ever for Kipling to draw for
its phraseology upon that favourite
source of his, the Authorised Version
of the Holy Bible. Most of its readers
recognise the passage in the Book
of Amos where the phrase occurs,
and few would demur to the prop-
osition that this is one of innumerable
cases in Holy Writ where a doubling
paraphrase is just as much a mode
of emphasis as the intentional re-
petition of a word. In a way, this
figure of speech corresponds to that
parallelism (or balance of versicle
and response) which extends from
the Psalmody and the Canticles to
innumerable passages in the sacred
text, where it impresses the soul of
the listener, almost like the repeated
knocking on the gate at midnight
in    " Macbeth."

Thus much granted, it seems useless
to deny the poet the use of a singular
verb    like    " dies,"    instead    of    the

plural, if only because of the trans-
parent unity of the dominant idea.
Depend upon it, Kipling could easily
have changed the run of the stanza
and if he had preferred the plural
verb, he was never the man to sacrifice
grammar to euphony or rhyme,
as Byron did when he wrote " there
let him lay." One is loth to suggest
that the devotees of parsing are any
less high-minded than the votaries
of poetry, but they certainly betray
a tenacity on points like this which
is apt to obscure the purpose and
the burden between the lines.
Was it not a sensible Englishwoman
who corrected an American scholiast
a few years ago who had presumed
to rate John Ruskin for an imaginary
solecism somewhere in one of his
books. " You forget," she wrote,
" that men like Ruskin are writers
of English, whereas you seem to
talk    and    write    merely    grammar."

Our President

MEMBERS of the Kipling Society
in  all parts   of  the  world   will
congratulate our President upon
his rapid recovery from a recent ill-
ness.    He    underwent    an    operation
for   appendicitis   which   he   tells   us
was long overdue, and is now recupera-

ting in his homeland, as he describes
it—-Devon. In a characteristic note
he writes :—" So the President of
the Kipling Society remains intact."
We send Stalky every possible good
wish for his complete restoration
to   health.

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL                         3

Kipling and the Other Two

by VICTORIAN

IN Literature, April 29, 1899, the
late Mr. E. Kay Robinson wrote
an interesting article, showing Kip-
ling's partiality for the number three,
from which I quote some extracts
as they may prove to be of interest
to  other members  as  well.

" We all have, consciously or un-
consciously, our favourite numbers,
and Mr. Rudyard Kipling's is three.
In most of his strongest stories, he
limits himself to three leading characters
as though he instinctively felt that
he could handle that number with
most ease and skill. We see the
habit crystallized, as it were, in Soldiers
Three, but the influence of the familiar
numeral pervades all his work, from
his Schoolboy Lyrics upwards ; and,
as nothing exists without a cause,
we may ask why it should inevitably
have been Soldiers Three and not
Soldiers Two or Four ? Mr. Kipling
supplies a clue in his more recent
creation of Stalky & Co. In a
different rank of life Stalky & Co.
are merely Mulvaney, Ortheris and
Learoyd in their teens. They have
just the same relation to their school
as the three immortal Tommies to
their regiment. At once its pride
and its disgrace, always in trouble
and always admired or feared by the
others ; thoroughly understood and
highly valued by any sympathetic
spirit placed in authority over them,
but an uncommonly awkward team
to drive in ordinary harness ; pre-
eminent in worldly wisdom, but always
lagging behind the rest in the routine
duty that wins professional or school
rewards—in a word, these brilliant
black sheep of their respective flocks,
Soldiers Three and Stalky & Co.,
are the same persons. And another
very marked coincidence deserves
notice—namely, that in each of the
triple alliances there is one predom-
inant partner, standing head and should-
ers above the other two in presence
of mind, wisdom and resourcefulness.
What Stalky is to Beetle and McTurk,
Mulvaney is to Ortheris and Learoyd.
The stories might, in fact, be renamed

Mulvaney & Co., and Schoolboys
Three without any loss of aptness ;
which, if we could drop the three
schoolboys in the social scale and
give them the soldiers' different dialects,
we might re-name them Mulvaney,
Ortheris and Learoyd and read the
two works as merely two sections
of the lives of the same three characters.
Moreover, this analysis of the relation
which the individuals of each trio
bear to each other holds more or less
in all of Kipling's three-charactered
tales. In each there is one man of
commanding character, such as, to
take one instance, Strickland. He
is almost always a strange, but grandly
sympathetic, figure like Mulvaney,
and takes into his confidence and
friendship a genial, quick-witted friend
like Ortheris. The third person of
the trio varies more ; he is introduced
of set purpose to make the story,
but unconsciously to complete the
trio. This third person is often
the nominal hero, but more often,
perhaps, the victim in the narrative ;
though apart from the miraculously
vivid description of the incidents
which befall him, the whole power
of the story is concentrated in the
delineation of the character of the
first person, as Soldiers Three ....
may be described as the history of
Mulvaney. Even when Mulvaney is
absent, his influence is over it all.
He is still the captain and the guiding
star of " the other two " . . . . The
second person in each of Kipling's
trinities is, consciously or unconsciously
himself. We are all guided in after-
life by the experiences of childhood,
and Kipling naturally places himself
in the position which he occupied
at school, midway between two com-
panions, one of whom he revered
as leader. The hero-worship of boy-
hood never leaves us entirely ....
and in the attitude of Ortheris towards
Mulvaney, of the " I " in the Strick-
land stories towards Strickland, or
of Beetle towards Stalky, we see
Kipling's unconscious photographs of
his   own   mind.    That   the   narrative

4                          THE KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

of Stalky & Co., or, at least, the
relation of the conspirators towards
their schoolfellows and masters—is
founded upon the actual experiences
of Kipling's life at school, appears
from one of his very earliest writings,
The Dusky Crew. The opening verse
runs :—

Our   heads   were   rough,   and our

hands   were   black
With the inkstain's midnight hue,
We   scouted   all,   both   great   and

small,

We  were   a  dusky  crew.
And  each  boy's  hand  was   against

us    raised,
' Gainst me,  and the  other two.

Here we have a very life-like des-
cription of Stalky and Co., written
by young Rudyard at the very time
when he was the Lieutenant in that
now world-famous gang. And the
accuracy of the likeness grows in
the   second   verse :—

We chased the hare from her secret

lair,

We roamed the woodland through,
In   parks   and   grounds   far   out   of

bounds

Wandered   our   dusky   crew.
And  the   keepers   strove  to   see  us

pass,
Me,   and  the  other  two.

This is a complete epitome of the
opening chapters  of Stalky and  Co.,

and leaves no doubt as to the identity
of that redoubtable trio with " the
Dusky Crew " . . . . There are men
in the Service who distinctly recollect
Kipling at school in the Beetle days,
but none who anticipated the fame
that awaited that short-sighted, under-
sized, and queerly-gifted playmate.
To the masters he was a conundrum,
but to the " other two "—well, to
the other two, he was, mutatis mutandis,
what Ortheris is to Mulvaney and
Learoyd, the "little man" with the
ready tongue and bantam pluck,
without whom no good fortune was
complete, and with whom no bad
luck was beyond alleviation by cheery
jest and eccentric philosophy ....
Smaller of stature but readier of
tongue, faithful to his leader and to
his leader's ideals, this is Kipling
the schoolboy and Kipling the man.
Compared with Stalky and Beetle,
Mulvaney and Ortheris or Strickland
and " I," the third person is the
" general utility " man of the company
.... any other person would have
done as well .... In each of his
fine characters we see the incarnation
of the ideal Stalky grown to manhood ;
by his side we see, either as narrator
or companion, the adult Beetle ;
and when the third is added, whether
Learoyd or another, we merely have
unconsciously crystallized, in im-
mortal prose, the schoolboy relations
of " Me and the  Other Two."

TO  OUR MEMBERS

THE Kipling Society continues its work under difficulties, but our quarterly
Journal, restricted, it is true, to a small number of pages, has   appeared
at its due  time  throughout  the war years.    We invite every   member
individually   to   help   us   to   continue    publishing    the    Journal    regularly
each quarter by enrolling one friend as a member of the Society.     Those who
for any reason are unable to do so are asked to send a donation, to be allocated
to the Journal Fund.    As publication arrangements have to be made well in
advance, members are asked to send in their application for a new member
(or equivalent donation) at   the  earliest opportunity, to The Kipling Society,
2,  High Street,   Thame, Oxon.

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL                         5

Kipling at Home III

by DOROTHY PONTON

[This article concludes the series
of three, contributed by Rudyard Kip-
ling's former Secretary. Instalments one
and two appeared in the April and
July, 1942, numbers of the "Journal."]
KIPLING'S   FARM.

DURING the 1914-1918 War,
Mr. Rudyard Kipling bought
some Guernsey cows which sup-
plied Batemans with milk and butter.
As the leases for land and farms on
the estate expired, they were not
re-let (with the exception of an orchard
farm on the north-west boundary
of the estate), and Mr. Kipling began
to farm his own land and to employ
a staff of farm labourers.

Each time a Guernsey calf arrived,
it was duly named by its master, its
markings and all details about its
pedigree were set down and forwarded
to the Guernsey Herd Book for
registration. Batemans Baby, Batemans
Blizzard and Batemans Bunting were
successfully reared, besides others,
and joy came to the heart of the
author when they gained prizes at
the Tunbridge Wells Cattle Show.
The Guernseys were kept for dairy
produce only, and the farm accounts
soon showed that these ladies cost
far more to keep than their produce
warranted.

A Sussex herd of red Shorthorns
roamed the pastures and were fattened
for market, and two handsome dray
horses worked on the farm to supple-
ment the use of the mechanical appli-
ances for farming. A poultry farm
was run, and I was much impressed
by the fact that the farm accounts
revealed that geese cost next to nothing
to feed, and sold at a high price at
Michaelmas-tide. The orchards, too,
provided good crops, and the piggeries
yielded  very profitable  litters.

A new cottage, which had been
erected behind Park Mill Cottage,
now housed the gardener, whose
wife acted as dairymaid. An elderly
cowman occupied the residential portion
of the old Mill House. He was one
of the Sussex breed—almost stone
deaf,   but   alert,   and   accustomed   to

be astir long before his neighbours.
He possessed a speech peculiar to
his kind, and, in addition to this
being almost unintelligible to ordinary
mortals, I soon discovered that he
found what others said equally un-
intelligible. Often Mrs. Kipling gave
him orders, which he assured her
he understood perfectly, and as often
he would tap at my office window
two minutes later. " They do tawk
so funny up theer," he would explain
apologetically. " What do she want?"
and he would sidle up and present
a very large ear close to my mouth
for  information.

When a calf was born he always
reported the matter thus : " Tell
the master and the missus, will 'ee,
she be a beauty ?" quite regardless
of the sex. When the birth had been
announced, Mr. Kipling would tramp
half a mile, or more, across fields
to the farm where the baby lay. There
it would be duly named " Batemans
Butterpat," or whatever name seemed
appropriate to the author, and its
markings sketched on the form to
be forwarded to the Society which
kept the Guernsey Herd Book. Rudd,
the cowman, would get the calf to
pose in suitable positions while Mr.
Kipling intimated, by nods and smiles,
that the old fellow could take all
the credit for the fact that the calf's
star and saddle markings were perfect
and that its switch was the finest
he had  seen.

In the summer of 1919 the Kiplings
decided to enlarge their Sussex herd,
so a pedigree bull was introduced.
He seemed a gentle creature, and
was therefore allowed to roam at
will in the pastures set aside for the
Sussex herd. But one morning he
fell from grace, for, as Mrs. Sands,
the foreman's wife, tripped across
the fields to feed the poultry, the
bull tossed his head and began to
follow her. As he approached, she
thought he did not look so gentle
after all, so she bolted inside one
of the poultry-houses, much to the
consternation   of   the    feathered    in-

6                          THE  KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

mates. After the bull had playfully
trundled the poultry house along
some distance, bellowing at intervals
to accompany the shrieks of the woman
and the cackling of terrified hens
imprisoned therein, he began to get
annoyed, and started charging in
earnest. Some farm labourers, attract-
ed by this unaccustomed sight, approach-
ed, and then heard the din issuing
from the poultry-house. After a
struggle the bull was secured and
condemned   to   solitary   confinement.

Once, when the Kiplings were
away for the week-end, a Guernsey
and a Sussex cow, which had recently
calved, met. The calf belonging to
the Sussex Shorthorn had been taken
away from her, and she cast envious
eyes upon the little Guernsey calf.
A fight ensued in which the Guernsey
mother was nearly killed. The vet
summoned in haste, gave no hope
of her recovery, and the foreman
was in a panic over what the owners
would say. His wife, however, pressed
a flask of brandy into his hands,
which I had given her permission
to use in emergencies. Together they
approached the exhausted cow and
offered her the stimulant. She drank
it all ! " And in half an hour she
stood up on her own legs and ate
some hay," announced the foreman
gratefully as he returned the empty
flask. " And my man's better than
any old vet," added the wife. I
felt a little apprehensive that a relapse
might occur, but the cow progressed
favourably and made a perfect re-
covery. When the matter was re-
ported to the Kiplings' return the
foreman and his wife were compli-
mented on their prompt action in
saving the life of a valuable beast,
and my flask was refilled with the
finest cognac. " Only to be used
in emergencies, remember !" advised
Mr.   Kipling.

The bullocks were reared for beef
and sold at market. In the autumn
all the fat stock was disposed of and
a herd of sheep roamed the pastures
from Michaelmas till Lady Day.
Mr. Kipling alluded to these as
" our paying guests," for the owners
paid a fixed price per head for feeding,
and   they   cost  little   to   feed.

Such    fields    as    were    not    under

pasture grew crops. Batemans Farm
became a hive of industry when the
crops were being gathered. • Most
of the harvesting was done by mechani-
cally propelled machines, but the
actual carting was always performed
by the dray-horses, Captain and Black-
bird, which took a keen interest in
watching their winter stock accumu-
lated and stored. Captain had a
sense of humour, and a dislike for
work, which sometimes led him astray.
One hot autumn day, as I was return-
ing to my office, I encountered Cap-
tain trampling idly about in the
vegetable garden, his loose harness
jingling as he moved. Before I could
shut the gate he politely pushed me
aside with his nose and stalked pon-
derously into the lane. A shout
from one of the farm hands, from
whom he had escaped during the
dinner-hour, reminded him of labour,
so he jogged cheerfully home to
Dudwell, and tried to dispose of his
harness by rolling in the very muddy
pond much to the consternation of
the geese and ducks. Soon the en-
raged farm-hand arrived. At the crack
of the whip Captain stood up ; but,
finding that he was just beyond reach
of the lash, and that his master had
no intention of wetting his feet, he
remained standing in the cool water
till   working-hours   were   over.

Blackbird was more sedate. She
never shirked work, and she usually
treated Captain's frivolities with com-
plete indifference. When work was
over, and they were loosed together,
Captain always showed his delight
by galloping off and then rolling on
the grass. If Blackbird refused to
join in this pastime, he would pretend
to kick her. Once Blackbird retaliated
with a real kick, and Captain was
disabled from active service for a
while. But he revelled in his ease,
and, even when his leg was apparently
restored, he managed somehow to
run up a temperature when the vet
paid his periodic visit. However,
Mrs. Kipling discovered a quick,
and permanent, cure by ordering
his diet to be severely restricted.
When Captain saw only a wisp of
hay in his manger, while Blackbird
was munching oats, his temperature
dropped to normal, and he was pro-
nounced    " fit   for   work."

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL                         7

At a time when, after Mr. Kipling
had not been very well, the family
spent several weeks on the Mediterran-
ean coast, he said to me before going
away : " You'll get on all right with
the farm hands if you treat the men

as boys of fourteen and the women
as younger in intellect," and I found
the advice invaluable when petty
feuds sprang up  among the workers.

(Concluded).

KIPLING A T HOME. We understand from Miss Dorothy Ponton, who has
contributed the three articles " Kipling at Home " in the April, July and October,
1942, issues of the " Kipling Journal," that a reprint of the three articles in pamphlet
form will shortly be available at sixpence per copy. Applications for copies should
be addressed to Miss D. Ponton, 11 Churchfield Road, Pool, Dorset, with a
remittance of eightpence (covering postage).

How R.K. Read " Treasure Island "

[The following note is reproduced
by   courtesy   of   " The   Scotsman."]

RUDYARD Kipling's sister, Mrs.
J. M. Fleming, described, at
a meeting of the Robert Louis
Stevenson Club, in Over-Seas House,
Edinburgh, how her brother first
read   Treasure Island.

The Kiplings, in August, 1884,
were on holiday in "a little hired
house " at Dalhousie. Continuous rain
kept them indoors, and Kipling and
his father were reduced to drawing
enormous designs and decorations
on the walls. Then Treasure Island
arrived. " My father," said Mrs.
Fleming, " seized it and neither spoke
nor moved till dinner time, when
he reluctantly came to table, bringing
the book." His son and daughter
waited greedily for the last page
to be turned, and by 10 p.m. it was
Mrs. Fleming's turn. Then Kipling
read   Treasure Island.

The family hailed the romance
as "an inspiration and delight,"
but Mrs. Fleming told the members
of the Club that she had lived long
enough to see it set as a holiday task
at a big Scottish school, and to hear
a mother lamenting that it was too
old and dull for her boy.

Much of Mrs. Fleming's talk was
about Andrew Lang. At a dinner
party, Lang told her that he and
Stevenson had once planned to write
a novel together, chapter by chapter.
There was one huge difficulty. Who
was to undertake the heroine ? At
that time " R. L. S." had not charmed
the     world     with      Catriona      and

Lang had not written The World's
Desire. They decided that they
would introduce their heroine in
the first chapter, and then lose her
until the last. " R. L. S." booked
a chapter in which a meal was to
take place in a diving bell. The
plot was to contain a murder by
means of poisoned fruit, and Mrs.
Fleming described how Lang stabbed
the tangerines with a fork, until
the hostess inquired whether he was
doing a conjuring trick, and swept
them  all  into  the  drawingroom.

It was Lang, said Mrs. Fleming,
who was the first English critic to
notice her brother's Departmental
Ditties, quoting from it in the monthly
notice he contributed to Longman's
Magazine.

Mr. R. T. Skinner, who presided,
said that some three years before
the end of his life, Stevenson invited
Kipling to enjoy the hospitality of
Samoa, but the projected visit did
not materialise. Kipling, he added,
had no brother, he had one sister.
The mother, according to her famous
son, was considered the wittiest woman
in India. There were relatives of
distinction. One cousin of Mrs. Flem-
ing was Ambrose Poynter, the friend
of Keats ; he built churches and
mansions throughout Britain, and he
was one of the first to urge the im-
portance of making drawing one of
the compulsory subjects in our national
schools. An uncle by marriage was
Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Bt. Yet
another of the cousins was Lord
Baldwin,   twice   Prime   Minister.

8                          THE KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

Kipling—Poet of Empire—I.

The first part of an Address by the Auckland, N.Z., Branch of the
Kipling Society—by Dr. NORMAN BOYES.

ONE of the privileges of living
in a democratic country is that
everyone has a right to express
an opinion. Some may say there
are too many opinions at times like
the present, when one mind is called
for. Be that as it may, we all have
the fundamental right to ventilate
our views. Consequently, cats come
to do more than merely look at kings
.... modest citizens criticise poets,
and those poets among the great
masters. All very paradoxical, but
extremely human .... which is by
way of saying, that to be asked to
speak on Kipling as the poet of Empire
is a great honour which cannot be
lightly    undertaken.

The fact is that one is continually
discovering new excellence, and deeper
felicity in Kipling. You begin by
thinking you know the man on a
few swashbuckling ballads. You ven-
ture a little further into the stream
of his eloquence and end by being
swept away on the full tide of his
greatness.

What Shakespeare did for the
English stage, what Milton did for
the English epic, what Coleridge
did for the romantic revival, Kipling
did for a greater England, which we
today know to be the soul of England.
Many poets before him had sung
of England's green and pleasant land,
but like Falstaff they babbled of
green fields, and a little isle set in
a silver sea. They settled down at
some remote Nether Stowey and
wrote their homely tales, pausing
now and then, perhaps, to wonder
at the pother over a New World,
a Declaration of Independence or
a colonial emigration.

Shakespeare said nothing about
the exploits of Drake and his merry
men, contenting himself with looking
backwards as most of us are prone
to do, as if his own times had little
to offer. Not one glimmer in all
that great mind of a greater England
beyond the seas. Yet how different
was he in this than many an English-

man who came after him ? A famous
Roman once referred to Britain as
the place where the oysters came
from and to many a loyal English-
man, before the name of Anzac became
a household word, Australia was
no more than the place where the
mutton and wool came from, with
New Zealand a little island off the
coast, like Tasmania. Day by day,
with each passing generation, the
man in the street went about his
affairs, without the slightest dawning
in his heart, without the least presenti-
ment of the birth of a nation, that
was bigger and better than the little,
if glorious mother, that had brought
them all into being and seemed so
careless of their comings and goings.

If you look at the beginnings of
the Empire, this attitude no longer
appears strange. Dr. Goebbels has
thought to besmirch the Empire
by the adjective " ramshackle " . . . .
because to the German mind—that
methodical, systematised, inhuman con-
glomeration of phobias .... nothing
can survive unless it grows from an
idea driven home and rivetted on to
the soul of a community at the point
of the   sword.

Great things do not begin this
way. Somewhere in the English con-
stitution a germ of adventurousness
was sown. Search for it need not
be a protracted one. The Britons
were a great people before the Romans
came, lacking some of the arts and
graces, but forming a receptive basis
for the rude culture and undying
independence of the Saxons. Through
Rome came a measure of Greek
learning and Roman law, and later
came the hammer of the Normans
to weld these graces into one, mingling
with this doughty blood the fire of
the eagle-eyed sea rovers and inoculat-
ing the generations that followed
with a spirit that had slept for a
century or two in a land of many
good   things.                                     

More than anything, this composite
race loved the sea.    The short voyage

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL                           9

became the long voyage. The strange
new land must be explored. The
produce of that land must be taken
home, and future supplies assured
by armed protection. In this simple
story, and by no greater flights of
fancy, is told the birth of the Empire.
And the serfs, even their masters—
and the common people and the
squires of each generation to follow,
thought of these far places, if they
thought of them at all, as no more
than granaries or mines, forests or
fish.

It is not necessary to labour these
details, to speak of the industrial
era, of spinning jennies and the
growth of a great mercantile trade
which made the England of today,
and began to open men's eyes to
the potentialities of the Colonies.
Suffice it to say that the fibre and
quality of the people created some-
thing which only the degeneracy
of the race could break up. Far
from being a ramshackle Empire,
its unity was and is based, not on
duress, but a blood relation and
common culture, such as men carry
with them from an ancestral home
into  the  provinces.

Families are prone to self-criticism,
and often an outsider has to awaken
them to a sense of their inherent
character for good, or to a proper
appreciation of a natural greatness
or destiny. When we speak of Eng-
land we refer to the British Isles,
but it is a fact that much that is trad-
itional has been born south of the
Tweed, while the interpreters have
frequently   been   Scots   or   Irish.

To Kipling, filled with the sense
of the accomplishments of this little
white-cliffed island and the glories
of its history, was born a destiny
of revealing a people unto themselves.
A little, short-sighted man with the
all-seeing eye of the prophet and
the poet, a son of Mary who envied
the son of Martha his consummate
skill in building and doing ....
a man who saw an achievement that
required the light of his inspiration
to make clear, for did not he ask :
" What do they know of England
who only England know ?" . . . .
To this man touched with Celtic
fire was given a great and noble
destiny.    Or did he make it his des-

tiny ? .... saying with Isaiah : " Be-
hold I shall do a new thing, I shall
bring consciousness of themselves
to the phlegmatic, the unrevealing
English ; but above all, I shall make
them see something, a gleam at least,
of the high nature of their heritage
and the proud and frail tenure of
Empire !"

Kipling did more than this. " He
reasserted the claims of virility and
actuality," as Holbrook Jackson says,
" and, if you like, of vulgarity, that
underlying grossness of life which
is Nature's safeguard .... He was
never a realist for realism's sake :
he faced facts only because he re-
cognised in them the essentials of
romance." He saw the romance of
Empire in the sweat and blood that
had made it and the courage and
strength of the men who had a share
in the making. Through the tinkling,
banjo notes of his ballads which were
mistaken by many for straight-out
jingoism .... ran this sterner in-
vocation to work, this undertone of
demand on character. He even found
it necessary to remind an awakening
nation to be humble in the face of
a God who had been good to them.

They were content to read, but
did not choose to change their easy-
going habit ; they liked to hear the
war-drum and the song of destiny
but preferred cricket to empire-build-
ing and football to war. How pregnant
are these words, how too, too patheti-
cally true of England always :
" Given   to   strong   delusion,   wholly

believing   a   lie,
Ye  saw  that  the  land  lay  fenceless,

and ye let the months go by
Waiting  some  easy  wonder ;   hoping

some   saving   sign ....
Idle—openly  idle—in  the  lee  of the

forespent   line.
Idle—except  for  your  boasting—and

what is  your boasting worth
If ye grudge a year of service to the

lordliest  life   on   earth ?"

If you think this reproach too
sweeping, listen to a passage from
John Evelyn's Diary as far back as
1667 : "I went to Gravesend : the
Dutch fleet still at anchor before
the river, where I saw five of His
Majesty's men-at-war encounter above
twenty of the  Dutch in the bottom

10

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

of the Hope .... Having seen
this bold action, and their braving
us so far up the river, I went home
the next day, not without indignation
at our negligence and the nation's
reproach."

That was written of course, on
the historic occasion when the Dutch
sailed up the Thames. A modern
diarist may with a few amendments
have written much the same about
the gallant efforts of the R.A.F. in
the Battle of Britain, tackling four
times their number and ultimately
driving the marauders away ....
" not without indignation at our
negligence and the nation's reproach."

Kipling   wrote   at   one   time  :—
" The    wisest    thing,    we    suppose,

that a man can do for his land
Is the work that lies under his nose,
With   the   tools   that   lie   under   his

hand."

That was each man's duty as he
saw it. In the poem, " The Glory
of the Garden," he made it plain
that the glory of the garden did not
abide in words, but each one had
his duty there. He may not be fit
to trust with anything that grows,
nevertheless he could roll the lawn
or sift the loam and sand, and his
efforts, coupled with those of the
others and mixed with a spiritual
belief in the worthiness of the task
would not only make him a partner
in it all, but would assure the future
glory of the garden which was England.

Kipling would doubtless have been
at a loss, in these days of debunking
the traditional, to understand the
criticism levelled at the old school
tie. Only about 10,000 of the total
population of England get a real
chance to amount to anything under
such a system, for the school tie is
the entrance fee to many places of
honour and power. It is said that
seven out of eight of Neville Chamber-
lain's war cabinet wore old school
ties.

Kipling would look beyond this
inequality in our affairs, to the fact
that for 500 years the old schools
had trained men who governed first
their island and then their world.
Not the class of men who could afford
to go there and pay their £250 odd
per year in fees was his concern, so

much as the ideas engendered in
these schools of truth, righteousness,
honour .... of the defence of the
weak and the ailing, the desire to
preserve inviolate a great tradition,
the concept of greatness as being
in a man's treatment of his fellows,
in other words his kindness and
courage, rather than his brilliance.
These things would be, and were,
to Kipling the bones and the marrow
of our greatness ; and he would choose
to see past any preferments to the
fact that an old school song like the
famous " Forty Years On " of Harrow
had been the swan song during the
Boer War, of two mortally wounded
Harrovians on the top of Spion Kop
just   before   they   died.

He knew what tradition had done
for us in this way, yet he was not
altogether blind to the fact that there
were in our midst certain fools and
liars like Pagett, M.P. Nor could
he forget the debt the Empire owed
to the nameless Sergeants Whatsisname
who drilled blackmen white, nor
yet to those wage slaves who :—
" When  through  the   gates   of  stress

and    strain

Comes  forth  the  vast  event ....
The  simple,   sheer,   sufficing,   sane
Result   of   labour   spent ....
They  that  have  wrought  the   end

unthought

Be   neither  saint  nor  sage,
But  only  men  who  did  the  work
For which they drew the wage.

The fact was that Kipling with
the simplicity of greatness could
see through the trappings and out-
ward show of things, through the
dozen conditions and the score of
objections and evils and prejudices,
the class distinctions and the social
and educational barriers—to the heart
of things. He was as democratic
as a colonial, but could walk with
kings nor lose the common touch.
He had come to see that no class
nor section of the community was
responsible for the real greatness of
England. It was the deep heart
of the people that had achieved all
this. Not the navy entirely, not
the old school tie, not the army,
nor the civil service, nor yet the farmer,
old Hobden, neither the pioneer,
nor    McAndrew,    not    the    colonial,

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

11

not even our power to build better
than many and trade better than most,
scarcely indeed our fighting qualities,
things useless, all useless without
some deep faith, some poetic core
and cold courage. It was a central
core of faith and a rugged virility,
common to all the people that had
brought about the Empire. As Pro-
fessor Santayana has said of the
Englishman : " He carries his English

weather in his heart wherever he
goes, and it becomes a cool spot in
the desert and a steady and sane
oracle among all the deliriums of
mankind. Never since the heroic
days of Greece has the world had
such a sweet, just, boyish master."
[The second part of this address
will appear in the December, 1942
issue   of  " The   Kipling Journal.]

Annual Conference, 1942

THE   Annual   Conference   of   the
Society   was    held    in    London
on   the   17th   June,   1942.     Mr.
R.    E.    Harbord,    Chairman   of   the
Council,    presided    in    the    absence
of   the   President.

1.    On the motion of Mr.  Brook-
ing,   seconded   by   Mr.   Elwell,   the
Annual    Report   and   Account   were
unanimously   adopted.

2.    Rule    VII    of   the    Rules    for
the  government  of the  Society  were
amended by deleting the words " The
Honorary  Treasurer "   in  line  6  and
the  following  words   up   to   and   in-
cluding the words  " of the Journal "
in line 8 and by substituting therefor
the    words    " all    honorary    officers
of the   Society."

3.    On  the  motion   of the   Chair-
man,  seconded  by  Mr.   Randall,  the
President,    Vice-Presidents    and    the
honorary officers of the Society were
unanimously re-elected for the coming
year.

4.    Mr.  Philip  Randall was unani-
mously    elected    Honorary    Solicitor
to   the   Society   on   the   proposal   of
Mr. Brooking, seconded by the Chair-

man.

5.    On the motion of Mr.  Elwell,
seconded by Mrs. Stevenson, Captain
E. W. Martindell and Mr. J. R. Turn-
bull  were  re-elected  to  seats  on  the
Council.

6.    A   hearty   vote   of  thanks   was
unanimously adopted to the Honorary
Auditors   for  their   work   during   the
past   year   and   their   re-election   was
passed    with    acclamation.

7.    On the proposal of Mr. Brook-
ing, seconded by Mr. Elwell, a cable
of greetings  was  ordered  to  be  sent
to each Branch and to the Honorary
Secretary in the U.S.A., in the follow-
ing   terms :—

Kipling Society Annual Meeting send
hearty good wishes, and well remem-
bered " By my house and thy house
hangs   all  the  world's   fate."

The   proceedings   then   terminated.

*        *         *         *

At a meeting of the Council of
the Society held later, Mr. R. E.
Harbord was unanimously elected
Chairman  for a  second  year.

Members of the Kipling Society who possess letters, press cuttings, photographs or
sketches associated with Rudyard Kipling and his works, which they think might be
suitable for publication in the Journal, are invited to send particulars to the Hon.
Editor, The Kipling Journal, Lincoln House, Harrow-on-the-Hill.

12

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

The I.S.C. and Haileybury

A   NOTE   ON   THE   AMALGAMATION   OF    THE
IMPERIAL SERVICE COLLEGE AND HAILEYBURY

by THE REV. L. De O. TOLLEMACHE.

READERS of the Kipling Journal
will have read in the Press of
the transfer of the Imperial
Service College from Windsor and
its amalgamation with Haileybury.
The College, which was a lineal
successor to the United Services
College at Westward Ho and which
therefore was proud to claim its
association with Rudyard Kipling,
thus ceases to be a separate entity.
Throughout its career it has always
been hampered by lack of a sufficiently
large endowment, such as has enabled
other schools to survive periods of
depression. It has never been possible
to meet all the demands in buildings
and equipment which modern education
deems necessary, and the struggle
to make the best use of old-fashioned
and ill-equipped buildings has been
severe. Until the outbreak of the
war in 1939, the difficulties of the
situation were concealed by the grow-
ing numbers of boys in the College,
and but for the war, it is likely that
the position might have been satis-
factorily stabilised. The outbreak of
war. however, hit the College hard ;
the many boys from overseas at once
were eliminated, and many of the
parents who were serving in the
Armed Forces, found it difficult
for various reasons to continue to
send their sons to a boarding school

situated at Windsor. The College
was therefore affected by the general
decline in numbers more than most
schools and had no reserves on which
to draw. It therefore was decided
by the Governors that what seemed
to be a losing fight must be given up.
It is good to know that at least the
name will be preserved in the joint
school. And with the name without
question there will remain the tradition
of a great school, great in the sense
of being very typically English, a
school which strove to develop the
best in every boy, irrespective of
ability, and to make him a man fit
to take his place as a stout-hearted
servant of the Empire,—a school not
unworthy of Kipling's teaching of
what    constitutes    true    citizenship.

During its last few years the Imperial
connection was being drawn still
more tightly by the special scholar-
ship scheme in Rhodesia and by the
Kipling scholarships for boys from
all parts of the Empire : in such ways
it was a pioneer of a movement which
should inevitably be developed after
the war. All those who have been
privileged to be associated with the
College, either as boys or masters,
or in any other capacity, will preserve
the memory of great devotion, great
loyalty and fine comradeship. Good
luck   to   them   all !

We regret that owing to great pressure on our space, and the reduced number of
pages at present at our disposal, we have to hold over, un til the nex t issue of the '' Journal ''
Mr. Basil M. Bazley's review of " The Wound and the Bow," by Edmund Wilson,
" Kiplingiana,"  and  " Our  Letter  Bag."

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

13

Some More Kipling Parodies

Collected by COLONEL C. H. MILBURN, O.B.E.

READING Sir George MacMunn's
article on "Some Kipling Parodies"
in the Kipling Journal of October,
1941, reminded me that I have copies
of  very   many   Parodies   of  many   of
Kipling's verse in my Kipling ' scrap-
book '   collections.

I find that I have fifteen of If,
which seems to be the favourite poem,
on which parodists work their wicked
will, and on widely different subjects.
It may be of interest to give their
titles, as indicating some of those
subjects :—

1 "   The Home Front " If."    From Blighty,

1/6/40.

2     A Nautical " If."    From Blighty, 1/6/40.

3     A   Medical   " If."    From   " University
of Durham College of Medicine Gazette,"
-/3/33.

4     The   Sailors'   " If."     From Blighty.

5     A Wife's " If."    From  Yorkshire Even-
ing  Post,   26/3/40

6     The Lord Mayor's " If."    From  York-
shire   Evening   Post,   29/11/38.

7     A   Politician's   " If."    From    Yorkshire
Post,    22/4/29.

8     A    Doctor's    " If."    From    U.D.C.M.
Gazette,   -/3/21.

9     A College Man's "If."    From  U.D.C.
M.   Gazette,   -/5/32.

10     ' The     Fire     Lunatic,'     " If."    From
Under Bow  Bells, (An Insurance Period-
ical),    -/1/36.

11      "If."    From Under Bow Bells, -/4/34.

12     A   Car   Driver's   " If."    From    York-
shire   Evening   News,   -/6/34.

13     Aladdin's " If."    From Yorkshire Even-
ing   Post,    18/1/38.

14     Bridge   Player's   " If."    From   Harro-
gate   Advertiser,   4/3/33

15     "If"    (the    C.O.'s    "If")    by    Mrs
Fleming.    Reprinted in the Kipling Journal,
December,    1941    by   permission   of   the
"Edinburgh Evening  News."

They are all clever, though of
course, they vary in the degree of
their   cleverness.

A variant on If is When, from
Blighty   of  14/6/41,   which runs:—

WHEN

With apologies to Rudyard Kipling's " If."
When you wake up in the morning feeling

" tops "
And   you   wonder   where   your   aches   and

pains   have   gone,
And  you  don't  care   if it  rains  and  never

stops,
And  your boots  don't  cripple  you  to  put

'em   on,
When your breakfast seems  a reg'lar  " rill

mill."
And the tea's  like  tea  (almost)  except for

smoke,

And you wouldn't change places with General

Dill,

Or Ironsides, or any other bloke,
When you   shave   yourself   twice   just   for

shaving's sake
And   nothing's   been  swiped   out  of  your

kit-bag,
And  you  pinch  yourself   and  find  you're

still  awake,

When the Corporal nearly offers you a fag,
And the Sergeant, even, hasn't got the hump
And  he smiles  and does'nt  shove you on

a   guard,
And you wonder, have you clean gone off

your  chump,—

Or have you been misjudging him too hard.
When you buy a pint of what they sell for

beer

And never once think why on earth you did.
And you feel you want to wave something

and   cheer,

Or dance and act and sing just like a kid.
When you go and lend some cadger half-a-
crown,
Though you know he'll never pay you back

a  bean.
When the Captain doesn't glare at you and

frown,
Or  the  Old  Man look  ill-tempered,   sour

and   mean,
When you go and stroll around   the   camp

or   square
And you'd take back all you've   called it,

if you could
And you sniff the smoke and petrol-poisoned

air
And   you   can't   remember  when   it    smelt

so  good,
When you think that after all, the life's not

bad,
And   perhaps   you  have   been   difficult   at

times,
And remember  all the glorious  fun you've

had,
And   you   almost   feel   repentant   for   your

crimes,—
When you see  the world  in  this  strange,

rosy  light
And  you feel  glad,   somehow,   that  you're

still   alive

And your little worries even cease to bite
Tho'  you can't  keep still—no   matter how

you strive,—

Well, when you feel like this in every pore,
It's not just some clock or medal that you've

won,
You  know you're  sky-high   bucked ;   but,

what is more,
You know you're going home on leave—

my   Son I

C. H. I. Beigh.
( Blighty, June 14,  1941).

THE SAILOR'S " IF "

That little word.

If you can do your watch when all your
being

Craves for sleep, with aching bones demand-
ing  rest ;

If you can guide your hands with eyes un-
seeing,

14                         THE KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

And come with flying colours through the
test.

If you can toil and not be tired of toiling,
Be really sorry when your watch is through ;
If you can soil your hands  and not detest

the   soiling,
And have a manly pride  in  what you  do.

If you can watch the hands of Time slow

turning,
Without   the   heartfelt   wish   to   hear   eight

bells,

Or think of your relief and feel no yearning,
To hear his footsteps, ere   your soul rebels.

If you can force your tired brain to function,
And   keep   firm   hold   on   each   succeeding

thought ;

If you can work each muscle in conjunction,
And   never   feel   your   senses   overwrought.

If you can do these things without a failure,
And  not  one   bitter  grumbling  word   you

speak,

Then, Mate, you ain't a proper British sailor,
And  what  is  more,   you're  just  a  blinking

freak.

From      Ldg.      Sto.       Ronald      Gwynne
H.M.S.   " K,"   c/o   G.P.O.,   London.

(Reproduced  by permission of " Blighty. ")

" Leave," and " Camp Concert "
from the Yorkshire Evening Post,
by " Ratz," a frequent poetical con-
tributor to this paper, are not un-
worthy  of notice.

"LEAVE"

(With   acknowledgments   to   Kipling).
Doffing   mi   army   greatcoat,   unlacing   mi

army   boots,
Wot do yer fink of me,  Mary, for one of

the  new  recruits ?
All the way home in the train, lass,  I was

finking  of  Christmas   Eve ;
Gimme  me  pipe   and   slippers—I'm   'ome

for  a week on leave !

Back  from  the  army  again,  serg,
Back from the Army again !
Ah! It's a treat ter relieve mi pore feet
When I'm back from the Army again.

Wot's that ?    'Elp wiv the 'ousework, seeing

I'm  'ere,   says  you ?
Lumme,  I'd clean forgotten there's all the

fatigues   ter  do !
Wot   'ud   the   corporal   fink,   now ?    Wot

'ud  the sergeant say ?
Orl   right !    Pass  me   an   apron !    Argue ?

I've  said  O.K.!

Back   from   the   army   again,   serg.,

Back from  the  army  again !

' Enpecked   once  more,   I'm  scrubbing

the  floor,
'Cos  I'm back from  the army again !

When I've finished the lino, I've to look
sharp  and  peel  all  the  spuds.

Coo ! Do we need all those lass ? Wait
till   I've   rinsed   all   the   suds.

Is this the life for a 'ero ? Is this the fatted
calf?

I says ter mi flutterin'  'eartstrings,  I says
to   em :   Peace ?    Not   'arf !

Back   from   the   army   again,   serg.,
Back  from  the  army  again !
'Oo would 'ave bet that I'd ever regret
I  was  back from  the  army again ?
RATZ.

" CAMP CONCERT "

(With acknowledgements to the Author of that
little-known   lyric   " Gunga    Din ")

" What   is   the   Corporal   trembling   for ?"

asked    Files-on-Parade ;
" 'E's  nervous,  son,"  the  Colour Sergeant

said ;
" You'd think 'e was, ter look at 'im, a fine

upstanding   lad.
'Is mother's joy, 'is sister's pride, a credit

to  'is  dad ;
A magnificent young sample of the Army

of   to-day,
" But—"   the   Colour   Sergeant   gulped,   'e

did,  an'  turned  'is 'ead away,
" 'E's disgraced  the regiment,  'is platoon,

'is  squad,  an'  me.
'Im wot I thought the smartest chap in all

of  Company  C.
The  star  turn   of  the   concert—'an   when

the    spotlight    shines
'E gets  a fit of stage fright  'an fergets  'is

blinking   lines !"
" What  is  that  row  they're  kicking  up ?"

asked   Files-on-parade.
" Get out of 'ere, get out of 'ere, the Colour

Sergeant   said ;
" I've   faced   a   blooming   bayonet   charge,

and  never turned a hair,
But this is something else again—Come on,

the  exit's  there—
The troops is mad as dervishes, an' stamping

of   their   feet,
They're   tearing   of   the   benches    up—it's

time   to   beat   retreat ;
I ain't afraid of Jerries, and I do not mind

a   stroll
Acrost the wastes o' No-Man's-Land when

scouting on patrol:
It's  a lovely concert  party—well,  at least,

it might 'ave bin,
Till I saved the situation by reciting ' Gunga

Din ' "

RATZ

Copied from the Yorkshire Evening Post
of   22/1/40

Perhaps " Je Debunke " should
be included in the list of " Ifs,"
though the metre does not quite
coincide ; still it has somewhat of
the   tang.

"JE DEBUNKE"

When the Scientific  Blokes

In   laboratory   cloaks

Make researches for the benefit of Science,
You must treat with every care
Their   conclusions,   and   beware

That misleading air of certain self-reliance.

They concoct a fancy diet,

Quite  expecting you to  buy it,

Even threatening  dire  disaster should  you

skip  it ;

Give  instructions  with  the food,
Such as " Meals for every Mood,"

And " Advice on Alcohol and How to Sip it."

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL                         15

When  you  argue  that  the  meal

Isn't how you feel,

That    your    tummy's    been    undoubtedly

extruded,

They  explain   that   " CHO "
" Doesn't make your R.Q.  low,"

And that " fat and protein must be included."

In   this   language—Double   Dutch—

Their  controversies   are  such

That the layman has to grin and bear the

pain.

If your health is due to sages
In   the   ' Daily  Waiter's   pages

You're a better man than I—Arbuthnot Lane !

From the University of Durham College
of Medicine Gazette, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
(No   name,   signed).

One of the cleverest parodies that
I have come across, is that headed
" An Italian General," by ' E. F.'
in the "Daily Sketch" of 18/2/41
and it parodies the verse at the head
of the chapter " Tiger-Tiger " in
the Jungle Book. The rhythm and
rhyme follow more closely than usual,
that of the original verse.

TO    AN    ITALIAN    GENERAL    FOUND
WANDERING    IN    THE    DESERT

(After Rudyard Kipling).
What  of  the  fighting,   warrior  bold ?
Brother,   I   fled—my  battalions   lie   cold.
What of the enemy ye were to kill ?
Brother, they won, they had faith and skill.
Where   are   the   lies   that   gave  you   pride ?
Brother,   I   leave  them   to   those  who  lied.
Why, in this desert, do ye hurry by ?
Brother, to hide—for I fear to die.

E.    F.
(From   Daily   Sketch,   18/2/41).

I do not doubt there are many,
many other parodies which i. have
not come across, but the preceding
specimens may stimulate members
to watch in the papers for parodies,
criticisms, explanations, or analyses
of Kipling's works and this would be
all to the good.

An interesting side-light is thrown
on the original of the poem If in
a paragraph on page 53 of Private
and Official, a biography of Sir Ronald
Waterhouse, by Lady Waterhouse.
Discussing the characteristics of Cecil
Rhodes and Dr. Jameson, she says,
" And Ronald also regards it as signifi-
cant in this connection that Kipling,
a great Imperialist, and an experienced
judge of men, should have lived
year by year as a neighbour of Rhodes,
in the house which he built and
called ' Woolsack ;' that he knew
him intimately, frequently met Jameson
at Groote Schuur, and yet should
have been so persistently reserved
about Rhodes, while he adopted the
character of Jameson as a model
for  his  famous  verses  If."

I have not seen elsewhere any
statement as to whom Kipling had
in mind, when he composed these
verses—but on again reading If,
the above opinion seems to fit.

Old Johnny  Grundy  Again

IN the December, 1941, issue of
the   Kipling   Journal   (No.   60)   a

note by our contributor " Victor-
ian " appeared on " Old Johnny
Grundy," with a sub-title : Further
Light on a Kipling Mystery. The
puzzle of the parentage of " Old
Johnny Grundy is, to a certain
extent, cleared up in an interesting
letter we have received from Mrs.
Fleming, (R. K.'s sister).    She writes :

" I was amused to see " Old Johnny
Grundy "—my Father's jingle—known
and loved by me since I was three
years old—is still being ascribed to
Rudyard. Do state very plainly that
J. L. Kipling wrote and illustrated
it in the very early seventies. I
answered Mr. F. Foster on this at
length in No. 48 of the Kipling Journal.
If we all had our rights the longest

and most admired part of " On Green-
how Hill " would be signed J. L. K.,
and sundry verses A. M. K. In
those simple days " Bags I " made
a copyright—and the family square
" pooled " their work on occasion
even as No. 5 study in Stalky did
their   impots."

As is only too well known, " Quartette
1885 " was what Mrs. Fleming des-
cribes as a family affair, the quartette
being R. K., his father, mother and
sister. Exactly in the same way
some of the " uncollected " series
of Plain Tales from the Hills were
not written by R. K., but very likely
by other members of the family,
A Pinchbeck Goddess most certainly
being by his sister. In Echoes, too,
R. K. and his sister collaborated,
as   is   common   knowledge.

16

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

R.K's Masonic Allusions

Extradé from a lecture by ALBERT FROST

[A very interesting brochure, printed
for private circulation, has reached
us from Mr. Albert Frost, of Norfolk
Lodge, Sheffield, which is the outcome
of a lecture given by him to the Sheffield
Masonic Study Circle. It is entitled
" Rudyard Kipling : With special re-
ference to Masonic Allusions and In-
ferences," and contains a foreword
by Sir George MacMunn.]

IN his Preface, Mr. Frost writes :—
  As an antidote to any form of
Melancholia it is with some con-
fidence that I can prescribe an attentive
perusal of any or all the writings
of Rudyard Kipling. I do not ex-
aggerate when I say they became my
boon companions during the past
winter months ; almost an obsession
in fact, and I cherish the memory
of Kipling with deep esteem and
affection. His creative intellect, his
philosophy, style and phraseology cast
a spell over one which is impossible
to explain. He definitely ranks with
the classics, but in a class by himself.
It may be thought by some that
Kipling does not compare with the
old Greek and Latin philosophers.
As to this I am not in a position to
express an opinion, as I confess to
knowing so little about them, but
from an intimate abstract acquaintance
with Kipling I can substantiate that
he was a writer of great brilliancy ;
and withal of enthralling interest.
The stupendous heights he attained,
and the depths he reached, in every
phase of experience—human and other-
wise,—are incomprehensible. His prose
and his verse stand alone ; they
impart a knowledge and inspiration
to all who have to face the hard facts
of life, and this is an experience
none of us can escape. Whilst Kip-
ling was subjected to severe criticism
from time to time, his conclusions
were oftener more right than wrong.
Kipling is more a living soul to-day
than ever before, and his influence
will expand and extend throughout
a period of time beyond calculation.

R. K.'s MASONIC ANTECEDENTS

It is  by no means wandering into

the    realms   of   romance,    but    well

within the bounds of possibility that
Kipling's antecedents were actually
Freemasons at York in the 17th
century, as on the authority of the
" Waistell " Manuscript in the Pro-
vincial Grand Lodge Library at Leeds
there is the signature of " Henry
Kipling," who signed on behalf of
his cousin " John Kipling." There
is also another of about the same time
known as the " No. IV York Manu-
script," which bears the signature of
Mark Kipling. I do not, however,
presume to say that Rudyard was
a descendant of any or either of the
three worthies mentioned, no sub-
sequent evidence having been dis-
covered of any connection between
them. We are, however, quite safe
in assuming that the Kiplings of
those days could not possibly have
any conception that such a great
light was to appear in the firmament
of literature nearly three centuries
afterwards. It is on record that
the Kiplings of those days chiefly
lived near Richmond in Yorkshire.
I am not aware of any definite attempt
having been made to trace Rudyard's
direct line of descent, and it is a pity
that there is an element of conjecture
about it. A search would be well
worth    while.

THE    DUKE'S    QUESTION.

On an occasion when the Duke
of Connaught visited Westward Ho
His Royal Highness singled out Kip-
ling, and amongst other things asked
him what he would like to become—
to which question he replied : " I
would like, Sir, to live with the Army
and write up Tommy Atkins," and
it is not at all unlikely that those casual
remarks were instrumental in getting
him a free passage back to India,
at the age of seventeen, and to Lahore,
where he became Sub-Editor of the
Civil and Military Gazette, and more
or less a Free-lance Press Correspon-
dent. I wonder if our late Grand
Master, the Duke of Connaught, was
in any way interested in Kipling's
introduction into Freemasonry. It
is not improbable, as they were in
India   at   the   same   time,   where   in

October , 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL                         17

1887 His Royal Highness was the
District Grand Master of Bombay.
Later he paid due recognition to
Kipling's genius by ordering that
he be given the run of all the barracks.
His initiation into Freemasonry
must have been of an interesting
character. On April 5th, 1886, being
at that time less than twenty-one
years of age, a dispensation was
granted under the authority of the
District Grand Master. His occu-
pation was described as Assistant
Editor of the " Civil and Military
Gazette of Lahore." The ballot being
taken he was unanimously elected,
and being in attendance he was initiated
in the Lodge " Hope and Persever-
ance," No. 782, Lahore, under the
English Constitution. Without doubt
the ceremony made a marked im-
pression on him, and for a little time
he took deep interest in Freemasonry,
as within four months of being raised
he gave a paper on the " Origins of
the Craft," and shortly afterwards
another paper under the title of
" Some Remarks on popular views
of Freemasonry." To this Lodge
he dedicated the very clever poem
"The Mother Lodge"—the best of
all his compositions having reference
to   Freemasonry.

R. K. AND THE R.A.F. PILOT.
A Royal Air Force pilot meeting
Kipling one day said, " Oh yes, of
course I know you, Mr. Kipling—
but only topographically. You are
a round pond, a square pond, and
six chimneys all in a row "—no doubt
an apt description of what " Bate-
mans "   looked   like   from   the   air.

LODGE MEMBERSHIP.

As being of the Craft, Kipling was,
I believe, a member of the " Authors'
Lodge " in London. At any rate,
he was present at the Consecration
in 1910. He was also a member
of " The Motherland Lodge " and
a Rosicrucian, being attached to
the Metropolitan College. He wrote:
" For as you come and as you go,
whatever Grade you be—the Rosi-
crucian brethren are good enough
for me." Whether he retained his
membership in his Mother Lodge
at Lahore I don't know. He was
advanced a Mark Mason in " Fidelity "
Lodge   in  Lahore  and   a  Royal  Ark

Mariner of " Mount Ararat " Lodge
attached to the same Lodge. He
was an honorary member of " Canon-
gate Kilwinning " Lodge No. 2,
Edinburgh, of which the poet Burns
was  also  an  honorary member.

MASONIC   SYMBOLISM.

You have probably read that curious
little essay of Kipling's on The Butter-
fly that Stamped. Whilst it invites
no particular Masonic attention as
an essay, yet the introductory initial—
which was probably drawn by Kip-
ling himself—would show that he
was meditating in careless fashion
on Masonic Symbolism. It begins
with " This is a story about The
Most Wise Sovereign "—a title familiar
to many of us. The drawing depicts
Solomon reclining in a sort of easy
chair with a butterfly on extended
wings alighting on the first finger
of his right hand. On the back of
the chair the wise old owl is perched,
whilst Solomon's left arm has a
bracelet on it from which hangs the
pendant of the Square and Com-
passes. Around his neck hangs a
collar bearing the letters HTWSSTKS,
the symbolism of which was quite
well understood by Kipling as it is
to many of us. The Apron he is
wearing I make out to be that of a
Master or Past Master of the Craft,
as it carries the appropriate squares.
His prose works in many parts are
mystical, and other emblems made
use of by him are very symbolical.
On the outside cover of most of
Kipling's works there is the emboss-
ment of an elephant's head within
a circle. The trunk of the elephant
is seen to be holding a lotus flower
whilst on the left side there is the
swastika. All this is symbolical. The
circle symbolizes something without
end—eternity. The elephant's head
is an emblem of wisdom and fore-
sight, whilst the lotus flower has
ever been considered by Eastern
peoples as a sacred emblem re-
presenting purity, health and fortune,
and freedom from improper design.
Now we must look very carefully
at the cross in the form of a swastika
on this book cover design, and more
so to-day, because we scarcely open
a newspaper or periodical without
seeing the sign of a swastika being
applied as  a sort of emblem  by the

18

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

October, 1942

arch-enemy of England. The real
form of a swastika is made up of
four Greek capital letters placed
together, and is a religious symbol
of very ancient date. In fact, it is
known to have been in use particularly
in India a thousand years before
the Christian era. And in adopting
the swastika as forming part of an
actual trade mark registered in 1930,
Kipling possessed a vision and wisdom
which are of great significance, and
stamp him as being very definitely
prophetic. For in his form of the
cross the extremities or points are
bent at the right angle whilst Hitler's
cross is the reverse—the former de-
noting faith, favourable tendencies
and influences propitious, blessing,
long life and good fortune, whilst
the latter form is the harbinger of
misfortune and failure; and adopted
by the German Nazis more or less
for political purposes. The former
is an omen for good ; the latter an
omen for evil, and as some proof
of this I would refer certain Brethren
to " The Grade of Practicus," where
the swastika is described as Fylfot,
which is a distinction with a difference.

THE FINEST LESSONS IN LIFE.
A lover of Kipling who fought
in the last war, was wounded and
discharged, set up as a bookseller—
in Sheffield in point of fact—told
me he had recited the poem If scores
of times in South Africa and in France
and, having purchased in the course
of his business a number of engravings
of a contemporary important per-
sonage,    discovered   they    could   not

be sold at any price. He conceived
the idea of typing out the poem If,
which he attached with a paper fastener
to the engraving, offering it to the
public at an inclusive price, placed
it in his window, and he cleared his
stock in extraordinary quick time,
with a good return to himself. This
poem If contains some of the finest
lessons in life. Kipling's Barrack
Room Ballads were indeed the Battle
Songs of the Army and will not be
forgotten   for   generations.

INTEREST IN WAR GRAVES
COMMISSION.

I should be lacking if I did not
mention the interest in, and the in-
fluence he had over, the Imperial
War Graves Commission. It was
on his suggestion that the " Stone
of Remembrance "in each war cemetery
bears the inscription : " Their name
liveth for evermore." No more fra-
grant or appropriate inscription could
have been found for the War Graves
of France and Flanders than that.
When I was personally conducted
over several cemeteries a few years
ago, I raised my hat in admiration
and reverence, and thanked God
for Rudyard Kipling. On being sub-
sequently requested by the Staff of
this same Commission to select the
name for a Masonic Lodge he said,
"I would call it ' The Builders of
the Silent Cities'," and so it is. Think
of it ! Of this Lodge Kipling was
a Founder—membership being open
to only those who have taken some
active interest in the War Graves
Commission.

Please Remember the Kipling Society in Your Will

The following Form of Bequest should be used

LEGACIES   from   Members   who
  wish to support the work of the
Kipling Society are   accepted   by
the Council with gratitude.   The follow-
ing Form of Bequest should be used :
"I bequeath to The Kipling Society,
2, High Street, Thame, Oxfordshire,
a sum of

( £                      ) free of duty, to be

applicable for the general purposes
of the Society. And I declare that
the receipt of the Hon. Treasurer
or other proper official for the time
being of the Society shall be a good
and sufficient discharge to my
Executors."

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL                         19

Branch Report

AUCKLAND,  NEW ZEALAND.

[May we, in publishing this ex-
cellent report of the work of the Auck-
land, N.Z., Branch of the Society,
sincerely congratulate all concerned upon
the great success of their Season 1941-
1942 ?]

THE Season 1941-1942 was, un-
   doubtedly, the most successful
we have had since the foundation
of this Branch in 1935. Our meet-
ings were well attended in spite of
the black-out and the many anxieties
pressing heavily upon us as the threat
of war in the Pacific became more
imminent. Out of fifty Members
the average attendance was over thirty.

Thoughtful and eloquent addresses
were read to sympathetic and respon-
sive audiences of Members and friends :
it was apparent that the Kipling Society
in Auckland, like Kipling's Ship,
had " found itself." In its seventh
year this Branch has still a large
proportion of Foundation Members,
who have been making a sincere
study of Kipling, the poet ; the
philosopher ; the Master of English
prose. The spirit of Kipling animates
this   fraternity.

The Society owes much to its
former Chairmen, Mr. Townley Little
and the Reverend C. E. Perkins; and
is now heavily indebted to the present
Chairman, Mr. D. W. Faigan, who
has given generously of his scholar-
ship. His introductory address in
March, 1941 on Kipling's vision of
the British Empire's nobility of purpose
and Kipling's anguished cry to the
peoples of the Empire to fulfil their
responsibility by Military Service,
was an inspiration to all his hearers.
A moving tribute to their Majesties,
the King and Queen of England,
to their devotion to their people
at home and abroad found immediate
response in the heart of every Member.

Later in the year Mr. Faigan was
called upon to fill another Member's

place at short notice : he gave us
a study of Kipling's short stories,
worthy of a permanent place in Eng-
lish   Literature.

Mr. Norman Boyes received an
ovation when he gave us—with im-
passioned readings—in pages of pure
poetry, " Kipling, the poet of Empire."
Miss Boult's penetrating study of
Kipling and the Children was a feeling
interpretation of the spiritual Kipling,
whose expression of love and under-
standing of children, is unsurpassed
in    English    literature.

Miss Cecil Hull is a pillar of strength
to the Society. Her humorous and
vigorous writing, broadcasting and
readings of Kipling are used constantly
to make Kipling better known and
understood in New Zealand. Dr.
Hilda Northcroft has endeared her-
self to members by her readings
of the magic words of the Just So
Stories and of The Jungle Books.
Memorable evenings of delight for
all.

Our Wellington Member, The Alex-
ander Turnbull Library, at our request
has compiled for us a Bibliography
of their treasured volumes of Kipling,
which includes most of the First
Editions de luxe : rare editions :
and rare books on the subject of
Kipling  and  his  work.

Mr. Brandon and Mr. Bullen in
emphasising the robust and joyous
Kipling gave us two very jolly even-
ings. Our thanks are due to all
Members for their loyalty and en-
thusiastic   co-operation.

We have remitted £20 English
money to the Central Society who
have expressed frequently, through-
out the year, their appreciation of
our work. Our admiration for them
is unbounded : bombed out of London
they are carrying on at Thame near
Oxford.

Edith M. Buchanan,
Hon.    Secretary    and    Organiser.

CHANGES OF ADDRESS. Will members who are changing their address
please notify the Hon. Secretary, Kipling Society, 2, High Street, Thame
Oxon ?

20

THE  KIPLING JOURNAL         October, 1942

Kipling's Grammar

An interesting correspondence on the English Language in the hands of a master.

WE are indebted to The Scotsman
for the following extracts from
an interesting correspondence in
the   columns   of   that   paper   on   the
subject   of   Kipling's    Grammar.    In
a letter to the Editor, W. N. M. wrote —
. .  .  .    With regard to the question
of   a   British   battle   hymn.   Kipling's
Recessional will do to be going on with.
It is nearly as good in its way as Julia
Ward    Howe's    composition,    and    it
has  bequeathed to literature two  un-
forgettable    lines :—

" The tumult and the shouting dies ;
The captains and the kings depart."
(What a pity, by the way, that the
first of these lines should be marred
by   a   defect   in   grammar !)    As   ex-
pressions of deep-seated patriotic feel-
ing Land of Hope and Glory and  Sir
Cecil   Spring-Rice's   I   vow   to   thee,
my   country   are   also   worthy   to   be
mentioned."

SOME    COMMENTS.

The use of the words " a defect
in grammar," as applied to Kipling,
brought a number of letters. Here
are  a  few  comments.

" The English language in the
hands of a master is a keen weapon
and also a tool of great precision.
But to the lesser mortal it may be a
prison, and the chains and fetters
of the captive is grammar.

Kipling was much too careful a
writer to have made a mistake or to
have passed a " defect in grammar,"
as " W. N. M." suspects, in the lines :
" The tumult and the shouting dies :
The captains and the kings depart."
The picture is quite clear, but
Kipling's deliberate choice of words
makes it vivid. " The tumult and
the shouting " refers to strife, to a
crowd, to armies locked in battle,
each a unity in thought associated
with noise. Here Kipling shows his
skill, for when peace comes the noise
dies and the crowd departs ; no it
does not, it breaks up into its com-
ponent parts, thus becoming plural,
" and the captains and the kings
depart."

I think, therefore, that what " W.
N. M." thinks is a grammatical defect
is a masterly use of a tool, a skilful
escape from the prison of the text-
book, demonstrating one aspect of
the power of the English language
when well used.—R. S. Galloway,
Duntrune,   Elderslie,   Renfrewshire.

W. N. M. replied :— " When I
ventured in a parenthetical remark
to express regret that Kipling's famous
line was marred by a defect in grammar
it was not with the desire to indulge
in cheap " niggling criticism " of a
great writer, but rather for the reason,
expressed in all sincerity, that it seemed
regrettable that so fine a line should
suffer from so obvious a blemish.
It still appears to me that the use of
the conjunction " and " indicates that
two separate ideas are involved, and
because of this plurality of ideas it
follows that the verb should be in
agreement. The poet could easily
have written the line in such a way
as to preserve the rhyme with " sacri-
fice," without in any way weakening
its force. Indeed, the effect would
rather have been to strengthen it by
removing the blemish from which,
as it stands, it suffers.

After all, this form of error is quite
a common one in ordinary speaking
and writing and one does not expect
the " masters " to be subject to the
frailties which affect us " lesser mortals."
Besides Kipling's line there is in
literature an even more famous example
of the same error—" Thine is the
kingdom, the power, and the glory,"
and although we repeat this error
every day, so that we have grown quite
used to it, it must still be regarded
as an error.

I have every respect for the views
put forward by Mr. R. S. Galloway,
but it seems to me that in effect his
argument amounts to this—that the
" masters " are not to be bound, as
we are, by the strict rules of grammar,
I still think, however, that even in
the case of the great writers any such
departure from the rules is a sign of
weakness   rather   than   of   strength.

October, 1942

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

iii

EVERYDAY PHRASES.

This was followed by a note from
Mr. W. B. Stevenson, 31, Mansion-
house Road, Edinburgh. " Rudyard
Kipling's line " the tumult and the
shouting dies," is good English idiom,
and has many parallels in English
literature. I give two examples taken
from C. P. Mason's English Grammar.
Milton writes " hill and valley rings "
(Paradise Lost, ii. 495), and Shakespeare
" wherein doth sit the fear and dread
of kings" (Merchant of Venice, iv.l.
192). Familiar Bible texts supply
striking illustrations, such as " now
abideth faith, hope, charity, these
three." Everyday phrases like " there
was much talking and laughing " are
frequent. A singular verb exercises
a unifying influence on a double
or triple compound subject. The
grammatical rules we learn at school
are guides to beginners, not laws which
every writer and speaker of English
must   always   obey."

Many other letters on the subject
were published, and the correspondence
was closed by the following note
from " W. N. M." who originated it.

" W. N. M." ON THE POINTS
RAISED.

" As the writer of the unobtrusive
(but perhaps somewhat impertinent)
remark which originated this dis-
cussion, may I be allowed to refer
briefly to some of the interesting
points   which   have   been   raised ?

We are all grateful to the learned
Professors who have, with all the
weight of their authority, contributed
to the debate. I notice, however,
as a rather peculiar feature of their
arguments, that they seek to justify
the grammatical accuracy of Kipling's
line by first altering its form. Pro-
fessor Rose, for example, suggests
that it should read as representing
" the tumult dies and the shouting
dies," but in this form it would not
have fitted into the rhythm of the
poem. When in a previous letter
I ventured to suggest that the line
might have been constructed in such
a way as to preserve the rhyme with
" sacrifice "    without    losing    any    of

its power, the form I had in view was
" the tumult dies ; the shouting dies."
In this form it appears to me that
the line would have been at least
equally effective while at the same
time being in strict accordance with
grammatical rules. Sir Herbert Grier-
son suggests that the line should be
read as meaning " the tumultuous
shouting dies," but with every respect
for the great authority with which
he is entitled to speak, may I venture
modestly to submit that this correction
simply emphasises the fact that correct-
ion  is  necessary ?

I regret that I am not capable of
coping with the, to me, rather abstruse
and esoteric dialectics of Professor
Wright. I should have thought that
the " and " under discussion both
collected and enumerated. It " col-
lects " in the sense that it brings into
association two ideas, which, however,
although thus brought together, still
retain their individuality, and it "enum-
erates " because, although associated,
they still remain separate and distinct.
The havoc caused in the lay mind
by Professor Wright's finely drawn
distinctions was cleverly and amusingly
illustrated the other day by the note
in  "A  Scotsman's  Log."

The confusion as regards " Thine
is the kingdom, etc.," appears to
arise from the fact that it is written
in inverted form. If we " reinvert "
it, and write " The Kingdom, the
power and the glory is Thine," the
error   becomes   more   obvious.

I quite appreciate the fact that
grammar has been based historically
on the practice of the " masters,"
but once the rules have been fixed
it seems to behove us all to have due
regard to them. It may be that a
writer of genius, endowed with an
inspired and consummate mastery
of the literary art, may be able to
give new turns to forms of expression
which in due time may change the
grammar of the language ; but surely
such a consideration does not affect
the comparatively simple and " ele-
mentary " question of when or when
not to use the singular or the plural
verb."—W.   N.   M.

Printed by H. F. Lucas & Co., 151, North Road, Southend-on-Sea.