Saturday, 31 October 2009
The Fox's Prophecy
“But ere your limbs are bent with age,
And ere your locks are grey,
The sport that you have loved so well
Shall long have passed away.
Too well I know, by wisdom taught,
The existence of my race
O’er all wide England’s green domain
Is bound up with the Chase.
Better in early youth and strength
The race for life to run,
Than poisoned like the noxious rat,
Or slain by felon gun.”
He goes on:
“For not upon these hills alone
The doom of sport shall fall;
O’er the broad face of England creeps
The shadow on the wall.
The woodlands where my race has bred
Unto the axe shall yield;
Hedgerow and copse shall cease to shade
The ever-widening field.
The manly sports of England
Shall vanish one by one
The manly blood of England
In weaker veins shall run
The furzy down, the moorland heath,
The steam plough shall invade;
Nor park nor manor shall escape –
Common, nor forest glade.
The sports of their forefathers
To baser tastes shall yield
The vices of the town displace
The pleasures of the field.
For swiftly o’er the level shore
The waves of progress ride;
The ancient landmarks one by one
Shall sink beneath the tide.
Time-honoured creeds and ancient faith,
The Altar and the Crown,
Lordship’s hereditary right,
Before that tide go down.
Base churls shall mock the mighty names
Writ on the roll of time;
Religion shall be held a jest
And loyalty a crime.
No word of prayer, no hymn of praise
Sound in the village school;
The people’s education
Utilitarians rule.
In England’s ancient pulpits
Lay orators shall preach
New creeds, and free religions
Self-made apostles teach.
Nor harvest feast nor Christmastide
Shall farm or manor hold;
Science alone can plenty give,
The only god is Gold.
The homes where love and peace should dwell
Fierce politics shall vex,
And unsexed woman strive to prove
Herself the coarser sex.
Mechanics in their workshops
Affairs of State decide;
Honour and truth – old-fashioned words –
The noisy mobs deride.
The statesmen that should rule the realm
Coarse demagogues displace;
The glory of a thousand years
Shall end in foul disgrace.
Trade shall be held the only good,
And gain the sole device;
The statesman’s maxim shall be peace,
And peace at any price.
Her army and her navy
Britain shall cast aside;
Soldiers and ships are costly things,
Defence an empty pride.
The footstep of the invader
Then England’s shore shall know,
While home-bred traitors give the hand
To England’s every foe.
Disarmed, before the foreigner
The knee shall humbly bend,
And yield the treasures that she lacked
The wisdom to defend.”
The fox does go on, however, to prophesy that this sorry state of affairs will not last:
“But not for aye – yet once again
When purged by fire and sword
The land her freedom shall regain
To manlier thoughts restored.
Taught wisdom by disaster,
England shall learn to know
That trade is not the only gain
Heaven gives to man below.
The greed for gold departed,
The golden calf cast down,
Old England’s sons again shall raise
The Altar and the Crown.
Again the smiling hedgerow
Shall field from field divide;
Again among the woodlands
The scarlet troop shall ride”.
I am not looking forward to the fire and sword, but it is reassuring to know that things will get better!
Friday, 30 October 2009
Tony for President?
You can read the article on telegraph.co.uk/jeffrandall.
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
The Green Man
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Can We Afford the EU?
The question is: can we honestly afford all this? We are the second biggest net contributor after Germany. While this money is pouring out of the country, we are in the depths of a recession, our economy is at rock-bottom, we owe more money as a nation than ever in our history, our soldiers are dying in Afghanistan for lack of proper equipment, we are all being asked to tighten our belts and advised by newspaper cookery pages on how to cook nettles - it can't go on!
More than 25% of voters in the European elections earlier this year voted for parties that want to take Britain out of the EU. Disaffection is felt throughout the country, and things are unlikely to get better. In fact they are likely to get much worse as the EU's grip tightens with the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
Nobody can point to any benefit to this country from the EU - on the contrary, it is helping to ruin us.
Monday, 26 October 2009
For the Record: Making Things Clear
The Monarchy
Freedom of speech, freedom of choice and freedom of the Press
Ministerial responsibility
The Armed Forces
A strong and visible police force
The civilising effect of Christian values
Patriotism
Law and order
Private enterprise and personal responsibility
Low taxes
Marriage and family life
Discipline and sound teaching in schools (especially English history) and including the sine qua non of teaching English to foreign immigrants, whatever their home language
Good manners and thought for others
Respect for one’s elders
Tolerance of minorities
Foxhunting
Dogs
I do NOT believe in:
The European Union
Political correctness
Uncontrolled immigration
Bureaucracy
The marginalisation and neglect of the rural population
High taxation and stealth taxes
Multiculturalism
Racism
Fascism
Communism
Socialism
Extremism of all kinds
Intolerance and banning things
Homophobia
The subjugation of women
The negation of our history and culture
The nanny state: being told what we can and can’t eat or how we should live
The Health & Safety Executive
Over-protective parents
Social workers removing children from their parents without really good cause
Inversion of blame – as when someone defending their life or property becomes a villain and the perpetrator goes free
Allowing such practices as forced marriages to continue in this country because we are too weak and appeasing to protect the innocent victims (see PC)
Teachers being sacked for disciplining unruly pupils
The compensation culture
Ridiculous sentences handed down by over-liberal judges
The police spending time and money on prosecuting clearly decent people
Surveillance of individuals and interference with private lives
CCTV and speed cameras
Bad manners
Litter
Excessive noise – especially very loud music played in cars with the windows open
Being called by my Christian name by people I have never met
Dogfighting
Friday, 23 October 2009
Freedom and the BNP
The BNP has two members duly elected to the European Parliament (which is more than can be said for most of the people who now make our laws). Their following is largely made up of disaffected Labour voters, who do not believe that the Government has addressed their concerns, or ever will. For this Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and their governments are greatly to blame. Many of us agree with the concerns of these voters, though we would not go so far as to vote BNP. Our voices are simply not listened to.
As Voltaire said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Update on Trafalgar Flag
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Trafalgar Day
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
The Euro Soap Opera
Saturday, 17 October 2009
London 1802
Friday, 16 October 2009
Milton in Florence
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Young British Artists
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
The House of Stuart
The family was specifically excluded from the line of succession to the throne of England, Scotland or Ireland by the Act of Settlement in 1701, and since 1807 they have never tried to make a claim, and in fact discourage their supporters from doing so on their behalf.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Hold on there, Czechs!
Monday, 12 October 2009
A Sad Story
Saturday, 10 October 2009
St Paul's Cathedral
The north-west tower contains 13 bells hung for change ringing, while the south-west contains four, including Great Paul, at 16½ tons the largest bell in the British Isles, cast in 1881, and Great Tom (the hour bell). The bell is only rung on occasions of a death in the royal family, the Bishop of London, or London's mayor.
Although struck several times by bombs during World War II, St. Paul's survived, and indeed became a symbol of London's resistance to the Blitz, as shown in the iconic photograph of the famous dome rising above the smoke and flames of war.
Friday, 9 October 2009
Falling Asleep
Falling Asleep
Siegfried Sassoon
Voices moving about in the quiet house:
Thud of feet and a muffled shutting of doors:
Everyone yawning. Only the clocks are alert.
Out in the night there’s autumn-smelling gloom
Crowded with whispering trees; across the park
A hollow cry of hounds like lonely bells:
And I know that the clouds are moving across the moon;
The low, red, rising moon. Now herons call
And wrangle by their pool; and hooting owls
Sail from the wood above pale stooks of oats.
Waiting for sleep, I drift from thoughts like these;
And where today was dream-like, build my dreams.
Music … there was a bright white room below,
And someone singing a song about a soldier,
One hour, two hours ago: and soon the song
Will be ‘last night’; but now the beauty swings
Across my brain, ghost of remembered chords
Which still can make such radiance in my dream
That I can watch the marching of my soldiers,
And count their faces; faces, sunlit faces.
Falling asleep …. the herons, and the hounds ….
September in the darkness; and the world
I’ve known, all fading past me into peace.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
A Memento of Trafalgar
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Wolf Hall
Thomas Cromwell 1485 - 1540 , by Hans Holbein the Younger