CONTENTS - kiplingjournal.com · 2 THEJuly, 1942 KIPLING JOURNAL poet and as a man. In such a cataract of gratuitous and indiscriminate invective, who shall escape ? All we can do

CONTENTSPAGE

N O T E S — J . P . C O L L I N S : - - - - - . . l

H . M . S . K I P L I N G — A N E P I T A P H A N D A S U G G E S T I O N —F R A N C I S M C M U R T R I E - - - - - - - 4

O N T H E R O A D T O M A N D A L A Y — L I E U T . - G E N E R A L S I R G E O R G E

M A C M U N N - - - - - - - - - 7

T H E ANNUAL MEETING - - - - - - - - 8

KIPLING AT H O M E II—- DOROTHY PONTON - 9

MAJOR-GENERAL RIMINGTON (OBITUARY).—L.C.D. - - - 11

T H E GENIUS OF RUDYARD K I P L I N G — H . R . T . - - - - 13

T H E MAKING OF ENGLAND I I I—F. S. TOWNLEY-LITTLE - - 14

K I P L I N G AS JOURNALIST IN INDIA—E.W.M. - - - - 15

JEROME K. JEROME ON R K.—VICTORIAN 16

LETTER BAG - - - - - - - - 1 7

KIPLINGIANA - - - . - - - - - - 1 8

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THE KIPLING SOCIETY

VOL. IX. No. 62. JULY, 1942

NotesBy J. P. COLLINS

CRITICS OF SORTS.

OUR correspondence showsmuch interest among mem-bers concerning the topic

discussed in last number—thecurious and miscellaneous treat-ment accorded to Rudyard Kiplingby certain contemporary critics.Whereas some of these heartilydeplore his passing away on theeve of the present momentousstruggle, and despair of seeinghis successor as an Empire Laureate,there are others who seem dis-posed to abuse him for havingappropriated so much of the lustreand " limelight " of his period.

Volumes might be written toshow that he was far more modestthan such commentators seem tobelieve. Here the evidence wouldrange from his own rash deter-mination in early life to stay andbe an Indian journalist and " letLondon go hang," down to theclimax of his fame and successas a poet, when he disavowedany such title, and was contentto rank simply as a " maker ofverse." This mild and unassertiveattitude by no means agrees withthe halo of assumption and aud-acity that some of his criticstry and spin around his brows.Thus "we are forced to the con-clusion that too much of thispseudo-criticism of to-day is spoil-

ed by prejudice, literary inex-perience, " cussedness," or simplythe automatic reaction of a newperiod and fashion superveningupon another era no longer ina position to answer for itself.But talking of lustre, how canwe commiserate self-constitutedoracles who impair their eyesightby too much glaring at the sun ?

JARGON OUT OF PLACE.If this unserviceable kind of

paper-waste were confined to Kip-ling, one might be less disturbed,but unfortunately it is not. Eachnew monograph we buy or borrowtells the same story. For instance,we are tempted by the name ofKeats only to find his mothercoarsely assailed ; or we findthe glamour of Dickens spoiledby hopeless over-emphasis on the" amoroso " pedal. Burke is riggedout in the extravagant habitsof Sheridan ; and Milton is heldup for obloquy, not as a limnerof Satan and Moloch but a pioneerhero of divorce.

In short, our national Valhallacollapses into a double-dyed chamb-ber of horrors. Landor is displayedas a disreputable termagant whocould not write prose for " nuts "(the " nuts " are our authority),and Byron himself is libelled,if that be possible, alike as a

THE KIPLING JOURNAL

2 THE KIPLING JOURNAL July, 1942

poet and as a man. In sucha cataract of gratuitous andindiscriminate invective, who shallescape ? All we can do is tostack our set of Kipling a shelfor two higher, and save himfrom contact with such literarypot-wallopers and scavengers ina thin disguise.

SLOGANS AND CATCHES.The fact is that these cremation-

ists of literature are incapableof reading the signs of the times,or consequently of distinguish-ing between the ephemeral andthe permanent. Every week bringsits quota of tribute in all sortsof ways, as if to show that R.K.is as much in the minds of menas ever. Indeed, it shows the veryprogress of the war which hewarned us against, is inseparablefrom his increasing and mountingreputation. His name and messageare inseparable from our leadingarticles and Parliamentary debates,the correspondence columns ofthe best papers, and the headingsthat adorn our broadcasts andperorations. Quotations from hispen serve as titles for new booksof all sorts, his ringing slogansare imported into war movementsand pamphlets, in various con-troversies here or overseas heis quoted as an authority, andthe occasions are numberless whenhe and his works are cited withhonourable mention in the world'sreviews and magazines.

Someone lately referred to hisjest about the Kensal Green ofthe newspaper files (a neat metaphorin one of his wittiest verses),but nobody surely can forgetthe mild sarcasm he put intoa skit on the unclassifiables of

his old profession, as follows :—But the bubble is blown and

the bubble is prickedBy Us and such as We

Remember the battle and standaside

While Thrones and Powersconfess

That King over all the childrenof pride

Is the Press—the Press—the Press !

COLOUR AND SHADOW.Since General Wavell turned

to the ' ' Jungle Book ' ' to finda stinging parallel with the Gogand Magog of Totalitarianism,the scenario-writers have beenoccupying themselves in plunderingthe great quarry of Kipling's worksin order to provide fresh con-quests for the film. The latestis a new Technicolor versionof the "Jungle Book" whichbids fair to excel anything attemptedyet in the portrayal of forestand jungle life amid the blazeand warmth and vividness ofsouthern Asia. But for the bene-fit of America's children andour youngsters in their midst,the story has been overhauledfor the National Board ofReview.

In the alert western method,a series of interesting querieshave been framed which bearupon the plot and persons ofthe story. We can recollect noother instance of a veteran author,alive or dead, being requisitionedso repeatedly in the course ofproduction in order to commendthe new film, and incidentallyto show how lavish this jungleepic is in everything that caninterest young and eager minds

July, 1942 THE KIPLING JOURNAL 3

through the transmutation of colourand shadow. Finally the young-sters themselves have been drilledwith a questionnaire of extremeingenuity in order to bring outthe originality of the story, andits appeal in picture form toarrest the young folk's attentionfor years to come. Some of thecritics demur to an interpolationof western smartness into thedialogue and plot, but this wasmore or less inevitable nowadays,even in Kipling's Jungle.

THE SEVEN SEAS.A correspondent has asked the

" Daily Telegraph " which arethe oceans Lord Trenchard hadin mind the other day when hedrew on Kipling for the familiarphrase of the Seven Seas. Heused it first in the middle 'nine-ties, and FitzGerald had usedit in his version of Omar fortyyears before that. The Persianin all probability was talking throughhis fez, in a strictly poetic sense,of course, because it is doubtfulif he had scraped acquaintancewith any more than two suchwaters—that is to say, the IndianOcean (as we style it to-day),and the Persian Gulf. This query,by the way, has crossed the stagemore than once as an ingredientof discussion in this Journal ;and Kipling himself specifiedthe group of seas he had in mindonce as the North and SouthPacific, the North and SouthAtlantic, the Indian, the Arcticand the Antarctic Oceans.

But there have been other in-terpretations, some of them basedon the supposition that in thethrong of visions and splendourscrowding through the poet's mind,

he may conceivably have for-gotten which particular watershe had had originally in mind.This is a far-fetched supposition,and could hardly be shared byevery reader. But at least thescope of the interpretation maybe enlarged by recapitulating thevarious readings which have appear-ed in print at one time or another.The Seven Seas, then, have beennumbered by various correspon-dents as follows :—-

(By the Mercantile Marine) :The Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan,Java Sea, Banda Sea, Flores Sea,Sea of Celebes and Molucca Sea.

(By a member of Lloyd's) :The Seas of Arafura, Banda,Celebes, Flores, Java, Sulu andTimor.

And so on. But it is worthwhile adding that many yearsago someone compiled a list offifty-five seas and oceans in alpha-betical order of names, and sentit to Kipling, who agreed asto the old age of the expression,and then marked the list offas already said. Finally, this diver-sity of views may very well con-clude with these lines from hispoem The Flowers :—

Far and far our homesAre set round the Seven Seas :Woe for us if we forget,We who hold by these.Unto each his mother-beach,Bloom and bird and land—Masters of the Seven SeasLove and understand.

D.S.O. FOR LIEUT. NIALLROBINSON.

We congratulate LieutenantNiall Robinson of H.M.S. Kiplingupon the recent award of theDistinguished Service Cross.


H.M.S. Kipling:An Epitaph and a Suggestion

By FRANCIS McMURTRIE

MEMBERS of the Kipling Societywill have learned with deepregret of the loss in action

of H.M.S. Kipling, four and a halfyears after the date on which herkeel was laid. News of her endwas given in the following officialAdmiralty communiqué, issued tothe public on May 12 :

"Yesterday (Monday, May 11)afternoon a force consisting offour of our destroyers was heavilyattacked by enemy aircraft in theEastern Mediterranean. H.M.S.Lively (Lieut.-Commander W. F. E.Hussey, D.S.O., D.S.C., R.N.) washit and sunk. The remaining threedestroyers were subjected to furtherheavy air attack by the GermanAir Force during the evening.H.M.S. Jackal (Commander C. N.Lentaigne, D.S.C., R.N.) and H.M.S.Kipling (Commander A. St. ClairFord, D.S.O., R.N.) were bothhit. The Kipling sank. The Jackalwas taken in tow, but had to besunk by our own forces duringthe early hours of this morning,since it became impossible to savethe ship.

The next-of-kin of casualties inH.M.S. Lively, H.M.S. Jackal andH.M.S. Kipling will be informedas soon as possible. It is knownthat more than 500 officers andmen from these three ships aresafe, so the total number of casual-ties cannot be heavy.

During these air attacks Beau-fighters of the R.A.F. destroyedone Heinkel 111 and damagedat least two Heinkel 1ll 's andfive Junkers 88's."Enemy accounts of this action add

little of value to the above brief narrative.According to the German version,the destroyers were attacked to thesouth of Crete, while the Italianssaid it was off the coast of Cyrenaica.The former would appear to be themore probable, in view of the reputedstrength of the Luftwaffe in the islandof Minos.

This is not the first time the des-troyer Kipling has been associatedwith that island in the war news.As stated in the April number ofthe Journal, her captain, CommanderA. St. Clair Ford, was awarded theDistinguished Service Order, and twoof his officers, Lieut.-Commander.(E). H. C. Hogger, R.N., and Sub-Lieut. P. W. B. Ashmore, R.N.,each received the Distinguished ServiceCross, for operations in Cretan watersduring May, 1941. On that occasionthe Royal Navy took heavy toll ofthe German invading forces whichattempted to pass by sea. Unfortunate-ly, being without air support, ourwarships suffered heavily, the cruisersYork, Gloucester, Fiji and Calcutta,and the destroyers Greyhound, Here-ward, Imperial, Juno, Kashmir andKelly being sunk in action with enemyaircraft. Ultimately a large proportionof the British troops in the islandwere evacuated in spite of all theenemy could do to prevent theirbeing embarked.

On January 2, 1942, Admiral SirAndrew Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, issuedthe following communiqué from hisflagship at Alexandria :

" During the advance of ourArmy in Libya, the enemy appearedto have been making special effortsto interfere with our supplies bysea. In this they had little success,while our counter-attacking forceshave done great execution. Theyhave sunk one Italian and twoGerman submarines and broughtin prisoners. The forces carryingout these successful operations in-cluded H.M.S. Farndale, Kipling,Hasty and Hotspur."In an interview given the same day

*to a number of Press representativesthe Commander-in-Chief added thefollowing remarks : *

" There are indications that afair number of enemy submarineshave been operating in the EasternMediterranean. Apart from trying


to dislocate our sea line of com-munications, there is evidence thatthey have attempted to maintainthe Bardia garrison by submarine.The enemy is chary of using surfacecraft. Also there has recently beena noticeable slackening of hostileair activity. This is believed tobe due to the Libyan and Cretanaerodromes being waterlogged.

From the three submarines de-finitely sunk—which is probablya modest estimate—there have beentaken 40, 50 and 40 prisonersrespectively. All the submarineswere destroyed by depth chargesdropped by our forces on the surface.

The captain of one British rescuingdestroyer said some of the Germanswere truculent, ill-behaved and ofthe Gestapo type, and had" askedto be separated immediately fromthe Italians. The captain of theBritish destroyer suggested thatthe Germans might be dumpedinto the sea to solve the problem,but for humanitarian reasons thisproposal was not adopted."In the first instance Commander

D. T. Dowler, R.N., was appointedto command the Kipling, to date

' August 1, 1939 ; but on the outbreakof war he was transferred to a sisterdestroyer, and relieved by CommanderA. St. Clair Ford, who was stillcaptain at the time of the ship's loss.For a short time in the early part

. of this year, while Commander St.Clair Ford was on sick leave, CommanderJ. S. M. Richardson, D.S.O., R.N.,held the command.

Officers serving in H.M.S. Kiplingwhen she was commissioned in 1939included Lieut.-Commander J. E. S.Bush, R.N., Lieut. J. K. L. Evans,R.N., Lieut. D. V. M. MacLeod,R.N., Lieut.-Commander (E). E. C.Senior, R.N., Gunner (T), N. W. Fox,R.N., and Midshipmen E. A. Burnhamand P. A. Chubb, R.N.R. At thethe same time, Lieut. N. B. Robinson,R.N.V.R. (son of the Hon. Secretaryof the Kipling Society) and SurgeonLieut. E. W. Rees, R.N.V.R., alsojoined the ship.

In 1940 Lieut. C. J. Steel, R.N.V.R..and Sub-Lieut. J. S. Woosley, R.N.V.R.were appointed to her. Several changesin personnel occurred in 1941, Lieut.-

Commander (E). H. C. Hogger re-lieving Lt.-Com. Senior as " Chief,"Sub-Lieut. P. W. B. Ashmore, R.N.,replacing Lieut. MacLeod, and SurgeonLieut. J. I. A. Jamieson, R.N.V.R.,and Gunner (T). A. J. Stanton, R.N.,succeeding Surgeon Lieut. Rees andMr. Fox, respectively. Other appoint-ments in 1941 included Lieut. W. T.Sinclair, R.N.V.R., Acting Sub-Lieut.A. J. C. Baker, R.N.R., and Mid-shipman F. M. H. Milburn, R.N.,the first-named being relieved withina few months by Lieut. D. H. Wilkin-son, R.N.V.R. More recently, Lieut.(E). P. G. Fyers-Turner, R.N., hastaken the place of Lieut.-Com. Hogger,promoted.

Other officers who have servedin the Kipling are Lieut. W. D. Shaw,R.N., Midshipman A. E. P. Deane,R.N., Midshipman R. G. Shaw, R.N.,and Midshipman C. N. Russell,R.A.N. The appointments of thelast three were for short periods oftraining.

A LINK WITH THE SOCIETYIt is felt that the connection of

all these officers with H.M.S. Kipling,and thus with the Society, is onethat needs to be placed on recordin these pages. The first referenceto the ship's officers in the Journalwill be found in the issue for December,1939, where it is mentioned thatthe Hon. Secretary had been invitedto lunch on board. He found thecaptain and the first lieutenant tobe " great admirers of Kipling, andmost enthusiastic about the con-nection between their ship and theSociety." A fuller account of thisluncheon appeared in the Journalfor April, 1940.

It was on April 6, 1940, that adeputation from the Council visitedthe ship. After a plaque of RudyardKipling had been unveiled by Mr.J. H. C. Brooking, Founder of theSociety, and a silver cigarette boxand ashtrays had been presentedto the Ward Room Mess, a replicain bronze of the ship's boat-badgewas given to the Society.

Other gifts to H.M.S. Kiplingfrom the Society and its membersincluded books, magazines and papersfor the ship's library,dartboards, bio-oculars and knitted and other garments


from the Comforts Fund that wasinstituted. In 1940 a donation of£30 provided a special Christmasdinner for the ship's company.

Last year Mrs. J. M. Flemingpresented to the Kipling a Georgiansilver inkstand which her brotherhad given her in 1890. As she putit, "I felt I wanted to give somepersonal gift, the equivalent of amug or silver spoon, to my last andlargest godchild."

THE NAME OF KIPLINGThough the name of Kipling has

temporarily disappeared from the NavyList, that is no reason why such acordial association should be allowedto lapse. It should be possible formembers, in spite of the inevitabledelays of war time, to preserve touchwith the officers and men who haveserved in H.M.S. Kipling until such timeas another ship of the name is launched.

The Admiralty Committee on ShipNames is always ready to welcomesuggestions. The early revival ofKipling as the name of a new shipis one which the Society might wellmake. It would be by no meansthe first case of the kind, Gurkhabeing a recent instance.

In a broadcast by CommanderAnthony Kimmins, R.N., some men-tion was made of the Kipling's sharein the Cretan operations, which isquoted below :—

" At dawn on the morning ofMay 23 the Huns made their thirdand final attempt to invade Creteby sea. Actually only two enemyships made the attempt. Theywere sighted creeping towards thebeach at the first streak of dawn.The Fifth Flotilla tore in to inter-cept and sank both of them. Thefirst was full of Hun soldiers wholeapt overboard in their full heavyequipment. The second was loadedwith ammunition. Shells from theKelly's and Kashmir's 4.7's soonfound their mark and set her onfire.

All this had happened in fullview of the Hun airborne troops,

who had already felt the effect ofthe destroyers' guns. You canimagine their fury at seeing theirmuch needed supports scupperedat the last fence. You can imaginethe air sizzling with their impassionedsignals for the bombers to concen-trate on the destroyers who hadbeen responsible ; and it wasn'tlong before they came. The firstto arrive were the high level bombers.They started at 5.30 in the morningand continued until 8. Hundredsof bombs were dropped, but boththe Kelly and Kashmir then managedto escape unscathed. At 8 a largeformation of dive-bombers tookover and were more successful.The third wave got the Kashmirwith a 1,000-lb. bomb abaft thefunnel. The Kashmir broke intwo and sank in a couple of minutes.

Shortly afterwards another 1,000-pounder hit the Kelly abaft theengineroom. At that moment shewas steaming full out at 30 knotsand heeling over under helm. Thespeed of the ship and the forceof the water on the wrenchedplates in her side were too much.She heeled further and further,and 50 seconds after being hitturned turtle.

Some three and a half , hourslater, the destroyer Kipling, ofthe same flotilla, who had beendetached earlier and had herselfbeen repeatedly bombed, managedto reach the scene. In spite offurther and continued dive-bombing,she got the survivors of the Kellyand Kashmir safely away.

Up till now it had been cleanfighting, and there was no questionthat our sailors had developeda sneaking admiration for thesedive-bombers. But now, as theirvictims lay helpless in the water,those same pilots flew up and downclose to the surface while theirrear-gunners riddled our men withmachine-gun bullets. I think they'lllive to regret doing that.

So ended the Hun's third andfinal attempt to invade Crete bysea."


On the Road to Mandalayby LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR GEORGE MacMUNN,

THE Road to Mandalay has asad significance for all now,lovers of Kipling or not. Much

nonsense has been talked of neglectof precautions and a word or two onthis may not be out of place. Forlong the Defence of Burma has beena subject carefully studied by theGeneral Staff. But, and it is a verybig ' but,' never from the point ofview that France would collapseand her remnant sell Indo-Chinato Japan. That altered the wholeproblem. Defence was only con-sidered against a China who alwayslaid claim to Burma, and to whomat any rate till quite lately, the Govern-ment of Burma including our own,paid tribute. But that did not justify,so it seemed, the making of an other-wise useless road at the expense ofthe Indian and Burmese peoples.

The quite unnecessary political ideathat made a Burma separate fromIndia, deprived her, moreover, of theregularized military support of hergreat neighbour. The Burmans cannever defend themselves, being worth-less as troops and not much goodas Quislings. The district of Tharrad-waddy always did include a fanatical,but unwarlike party, all people ofwhom Kipling wrote " They shotat the strong" (i.e. from a safe distance)" and slashed at the ' weak " (whocould not respond), and the woundedBritish or Indian soldier has beenthe principal enemy that they con-tended with. Therefore when takenthey have been " disposed of " byour troops without form or ceremony.But such Burmese troops as thereare, a few battalions, are raised fromKachins, Karens, and Chins, Mongo-loids all, who all furnish troops ofthe Gurkha type. Their behaviourfrom such accounts as have comethrough have been admirable. Thebattalion of Kachin Rifles sent lateto the Tigris in the last war, put the"fear of God" into the Kurds, takingthe rebel chief Sheikh Mahmud them-

selves, at the Bazian Pass, in Kurdistan,and much impressing the Kurdswith their dahs. The Kurd is agentleman who will sling rifles andbandoliers and knives over himself,but who dislikes cold steel as a cathates water.

But Malaya and Burma are thehapless victims of the collapse ofFrance; and Vichy's treachery whichbrought the thousands-of-miles-awayJaps to our coasts, added to the con-temptible turpitude of our last twopre-war Premiers who destroyed theNavy and feared to tell the peopleof what the Service Chiefs toldthem about defence in the Pacific.The result is Mandalay in flames.Theebaw's teak palace gone, and somany of all the beautiful things andmemories we in this country havetreasured of the " Road to Mandalaywhere the flying fishes play." Thatline has often been criticised by theignorant, thinking Kipling wrote ofthe Irrawaddi running north andsouth, whereas" Where the flying fishes play

And the dawn comes up like thunderOut of China 'crost the Bay "

refers of course to the troopshipsgoing East across the Bay of Bengalfor Rangoon and Mandalay. OurPress writers, who so often get theirallusions wrong, have talked of Man-dalay as Burma's ' ancient capital.'That, of course, is tosh. It was builtby Theebaw's predecessor, for itpleased most rulers and dynastiesto build them a new capital. ButTheebaw's palace, the military head-quarters and British club when Iknew it, was beautiful enough, withits gilded teak and pagoda roofs,inside the crenelated fort wall ofTartaresque design, but of little mili-tary value. Myitkhyina, ' the townof big fish,' has gone too, lying asit does on a very wide reach of theIrrawaddi. That is sad but it wasa mushroom town, with, when Iknew it, only a few traders' booths


where Ma Shwe Mas smoked bigcheroots, and Kachin and Shan-Talok girls made googoo eyes, rounda pongyed Military Police post andstockade. It will re-appear as soonas the cloud has passed, as will Man-dalay, but who will rebuild, in allits picturesqueness, the gilded teakarchitecture of Theebaw's Palace, Idon't know.

Kipling wrote three sets of Burmaverses, each of great charm and power,Mandalay, Boh Da Thone, and TheGrave of the Hundred Head, the lasttwo redolent of all that must havebeen happening as our men forcedtheir way through the bamboo jungles.Then there was Mulvaney's story of" Lung Tung Pen."" Boh Da Thone was a warrior bold

His sword and his sabre was bossedwith gold."

Like most Mongoloids he was entirelyruthless on the warpath." He crucified noble, he scarified mean

He filled old ladies with kerosene,—"this latter to make them show wheretheir valuables were. He was en-tirely contemptible as a warrior, butentirely Hun and Nazi in spirit asfar as the weak and helpless wereconcerned. Have you read what asergeant reported as done in the trulyEastern way, to six murdered andmutilated men of his regiment ? Ifso you will understand why Quislings

are so quickly ' disposed of.' TheGrave of the Hundred Head tellsmuch the same story of ambush bythose who shot at the strong forsafety's sake." A snider squibbed in the jungle—

Somebody laughed and fled,And the men of the First ShikarisPicked up their subaltern dead,With a big blue mark in his foreheadAnd the back blown out of his head."Incidentally, I don't know if any

one has noted the usual Kiplingsubtlety of fact in this yarn of typicalverse. The Indian officers were Suba-dar Prag Tewarri and Jemadar HiraLal, Oudh Brahmins both, of a Hin-dustani regiment of classes now notenlisted, for their military value wasnot first class." If you mentionedIndian Officers today they wouldusually be Sikh, Dogra, or Moslem.The Oudh men were dying out,but the Oudh regiments were inBurma at the time of which Kiplingwrote, and their names are a verygood mark to his intimate knowledge.Ah well! there it is, and for the moment,affairs touch the lacrymae rerum.But not for long till we once moresee, to quote another Kipling line," The King's Peace over all dearboys, the King's Peace over all."But Boh Da Thone will have a roughtime for " The Black Tyrone haveseen their dead."

The Annual Conference

THE Annual Conference of theSociety was held in Londonon June 18th, when Mr. R. E.

Harbord, the Chairman of the Council,presided in the absence of the Presi-dent. (An account of the proceedingswill appear in our next issue).

The business meeting (from whichtelegrams of greeting were sent toour Overseas Branches) was followedby a gathering at the DorchesterHotel, when members and their friendshad tea together and compared noteson the progress of the Society duringthe past year. This was the firstsocial meeting of members in Londonsince the outbreak of war, and theywere specially gratified by the atten-dance of the President, Major-GeneralDunsterville, who had travelled up

from the country for the occasion.His inspiring talk was very highlyappreciated. As a writer in the" Daily Telegraph " commented, " He,the original Stalky is the only oneliving today of the famous ' Co,'now that Beetle has followed McTurkinto the shades. Indeed, he is thesole survivor of those who knewKipling well in the days when, asthe General once unfeelingly re-marked, ' we were a lot of potty littleschoolboys.' " Sir Christopher Robin-son described some of the experiencesof the survivors of H.M.S. Kipling,who he said, were expected to arrivein this country at an early date. Theywill be warmly welcomed by themembers of the Society when anopportunity arises to meet them,


Kipling at Home IIby DOROTHY PONTON

(This is the second of three articlesby Rudyard Kipling's former Secretary.The first, " Kipling's Home," appearedin the April, 1942, number of the "Journ-al.")KIPLING AT WORK 1911-1923.

BETWEEN 1911 and 1913 theverses and chapter-headings ofMr. Kipling's prose works were

collected in Songs from Books andmany of the short stories and verseswritten, which were later publishedin A Diversity of Creatures. Whilethe suffragettes were very active,Mr. Kipling drafted his verses TheFemale of the Species. The suffragettes,as a body, objected to Mr. Kipling'sview on votes for women, and threatsto burn down Bateman's reached him,but he quietly ignored them andpursued his own policy.

On the declaration of war againstGermany in August, 1914, Mr. Kiplingsounded a rousing call to arms inhis verses, For All We Have and Are,followed by the prophecy of the Ger-man moral collapse in Zion, and amoving eulogy on the death of EarlRoberts when visiting the Indiantroops at the Front. At the beginningof 1915 he visualized the mentalsufferings of a sick German womanin Swept and Garnished, followedby Mary Postgate, which showedhow an unimaginative English womanreacted against a German airman,who had fallen from his machineafter dropping bombs on the villageand killing a little girl.

After the loss of his only son (2nd.Lt. John Kipling of the 2nd Battalion,Irish Guards), who was reported' wounded and missing ' after theBattle of Loos in September, 1915,Mr. Kipling revealed, in some measure,his unspoken grief, in the verses,A Nativity, and My Boy Jack. Endoruttered a stern warning to all whohoped to trace their lost ones byresorting to spiritualism and A Songat Cock-crow ruthlessly criticised theattitude of the Vatican towards atroci-ties committed by the enemy, as didalso some of the Epitaphs. But throughthe gloom of those years, Mr. Kipling

always welcomed anything that liftedthe pall for a moment and in A Re-cantation he praised the Music-hallartists for their invaluable servicesin lightening the burden of the troopsat the front by their entertainments.And when rumour attributed themanufacture of margarine from corpses,he electrified some friends by recitingthe following lines :

" Charlotte, when she saw whatHermann

Yielded up when he was dead,Like a well-conducted German "

Spread him thickly on her bread."In Mesopotamia he severely blamedthe Government for its lack of propermedical provision for the woundedin that part of the world, and in TheHyaenas he denounced the Pressfor its unfair criticism of Lord Kitchenerafter his death in the Hampshire.His verses The Choice were writtenas a sequel to The Question, afterAmerica joined the Allies. In TheSong of the Lathes, he describes thefeelings of a widowed munition-worker, and Gethsemane provides thepoignant monologue of a soldier beforehe is gassed. In Justice he sternlywarns the Allies against the folly ofoffering too easy terms to the enemy.His verses, The Irish Guards, outlinedthe • history of the regiment his sonjoined, and he was already collectingmaterial for his history of The IrishGuards in the Great War.

In 1921 Mr. Kipling was made aMaster of the Sorbonne and in Novem-ber the family went to France for abrief period. At the Sorbonne Mr.Kipling gave an address entitled TheVirtue of France, and read a thesisbefore the assembly. At Strasbourghe delivered three speeches, A Returnto Civilisation at the University, TheTrees and the Wall at the UniversityBanquet and Waking from Dreams.

During my secretaryship from 1919to 1924, Mr. Kipling's chief workwas The Irish Guards in the GreatWar, a work of two volumes writtenas a memorial to his son. It wasa work of poignant memories ; forhe knew many of the men who had


been killed in action. Some of thematerial for the book was collectedfrom the diaries of officers—merescraps of paper stained with the mudof the trenches—or even flecked withblood.

The Irish Guards, 1st Battalion,returned to England in March, 1919,and the 2nd Battalion were disbandedlater. Some of the officers spentweek-ends at Batemans,' when theydoubtless gave the author first-handinformation of certain engagementsat the front, which he skilfully woveinto the fabric of the whole story.Often Mr. Kipling would take hisvisitors along the banks of the Dudwellto fish. "It's a strange thing," hesaid, " these war-worn youngsters,who didn't mind killing Huns, willblanch and squirm when the momentarrives to attach a worm to the endof a hook." ' Please, would youmind doing it ?' they will plead andlook the other way."

As the regiments were disbanded,many of the young officers —whoseeducation had been interrupted bythe call to arms—returned to college,Mr. Kipling's verses, The Scholarsand The Clerks and the Bells describetheir attempt to return to the studiesof youth. But with an occasionalside-step to create some vivid word-picture on some important currentevent, or to find relaxation in somelighter vein, Mr. Kipling bent hiswhole genius to completing this master-piece of the Great War. " Thiswill be my great work," he once said,and at another time. " It is beingdone with agony and bloody sweat."

He worked at it methodically andwith the utmost care to get all detailscorrect. His usual method of pro-cedure was to study the subject closelyand then set down, in his own in-imitable style, the result of this study.This formed the original manuscript.When the typewritten copy was pre-sented to him, he pruned or expandedit, and the next copy would be subjectedto the same process till-—perhaps notuntil four or five copies had beencarefully revised—the finished articlewould be laid aside till a final revisionof the whole was made just beforepublication.

His handwriting was sometimesdifficult to decipher and he once

accused me of making ' pot shots 'at an undecipherable phrase. But,when I admitted my guilt and askedwhat I was to do about it, he smiledand said, " Continue the pot shots.They sometimes give me an idea ;anyway I like 'em better than blanks."At another time he threatened toget a typewriter of his own—and did.But the work composed on it was,at first, much more undecipherablethan the other. " The beastly thingsimply won't spell," he complained.One day he came stealthily to theoffice window and stood for a momentlistening while I was typewriting." How did you know I was there ?"he exclaimed, as I turned to see whathe wanted. I pointed to a glazedcalendar standing on the roll-topdesk. " Oh, I see !" he observedsolemnly. " A perfect reflector ofall that goes on behind your back.I shall have to be more circumspectin the future. This visit was promptedby professional jealousy to discoveryour speed on that infernal machine."

On one occasion a whole chapterof the Irish Guards history, whichhad been sent for a fourth revision,disappeared. Mr. Kipling asked meto return it, and when I said it hadalready been returned there was someconsternation. Nobody could find itand it was not until the library wasbeing checked some weeks laterthat it turned up inside another bookin Mr. Kipling's study.

Every scrap of manuscript wassupposed to be returned as soon asit had been copied, and Mrs. Kiplingjealously guarded these till the endof the year, when they were sent toLondon to be mounted and thenplaced in safe custody. One day—not long after the typescript had goneastray—Mr. Kipling asked for thecopy of a page of manuscript, whichhe supposed had been given to me.I denied having received it, and Mrs.«Kipling looked very suspiciously atme. " Are you sure it is not in theoffice ? I'm almost certain it wasgiven out," remarked Mr. Kiplingseriously. I asked what it was aboutand then added, " I have no recollectionof receiving that piece " whereuponMr. Kipling went off humming, aswas his wont when bothered. But,before I had been in the office half*


an-hour, he appeared at the windowwith a broad smile and placed themissing sheet on the table. " Here itis. I'd only forgotten to tear it offmy block. Sorry !" he said. "Thankyou. I'm glad it has been found,"replied I. " And I'm glad I didn'tsay ' Quite certain it was given out ' ."added he.

In the early summer of 1922 Mr.Kipling, as a member of the ImperialWar Graves Commission, went tovisit the graves when King George Vmade his pilgrimage there. Mr. Kip-ling's verses, The King's Pilgrimage,were published on this occasion.

By the end of the summer, theIrish Guards History was ready forpublication—at least almost ready.But when Mr. Kipling handed itover to be forwarded to the printers,Mrs. Kipling chanced to turn overa few pages and her keen eyes lightedupon certain alterations in Mr. Kip-ling's handwriting. " But this is notthe final copy, Rud," she remarked.Mr, Kipling raised his eyes to Heavenin despair, and then glanced quicklyat me. " It's all right, Carrie," hesaid after a blank pause, " I've madeonly a few alterations ; they're quiteclear." But Mrs. Kipling was adamant.No typescript, bearing any alterationsin Mr. Kipling's handwriting, mustleave the house. He bowed wearilyto her wishes and the work was handedto me to be re-typed at high pressure." I appreciate your industry," saidMr. Kipling when the last fifty pageswere handed to him, " and still morethe fact that you never turned a hairwhen the whole thing was decantedupon you and you settled to the load."

In August Mr. Kipling, whosehealth had ,been troubling him forsome time, suddenly became des-perately ill and was rushed to Londonfor an X-ray examination. On hisreturn he kept to a special diet, butthough this restored him partiallyto health, he always looked ill. " ShallI always have this pain ?" he onceasked wearily, but the doctors assuredhim all was well. During the autumnthe proofs of the Irish Guards Historywere corrected by dint of sheer will-power. In November Mr. Kiplingbecame ill again, and as he was thenstrong enough to bear an operation,this was decided upon in the hopeof effecting a cure. The operationwas performed at the MiddlesexHospital and he returned to Bateman'swithin three weeks. Gradually herecovered some of his former vitalityand, while convalescing, wrote portionsof Propagation of Knowledge—a newchapter on the immortal Stalky andCo., and The Janeites which was pub-lished later with other tales.

In February. 1923, Mr. Kiplingattended the annual dinner of theRoyal College of Surgeons and eulogisedthe skill of the surgeon in his speechSurgeons of the Soul.

When he was strong enough totravel, Mr. Kipling went abroadwith his family, and on their returnin May, 1923, turned his attentionto writing short stories, many of whichappeared later in the collection of proseand verse entitled Debits and Credits.

(To be continued. The next andlast article in this series, entitled" Kipling's Farm " will appear inthe next issue of the " Journal.")

Major-General Rimington

BY the sudden death on April30th of Major-General J. C.Rimington, C.B., the Kipling

Society suffers the loss of one of itsmost loyal members.

General Rimington was one ofthe very few remaining WestwardHo boys who were contemporarywith the Stalky trio, and at one timefor a short period he shared a studywith Kipling. He had the peculiarnickname of ' Potiphar,' but noneof us could ever remember the cir-

cumstances that led us to this ratherabsurd choice. However, we alwaysspoke of him as Potiphar up to theday of his death. I knew him per-sonally as a good soldier and a staunchfriend, and his sudden end came asa great shock to me.

Members of the Society will recallthe short articles contributed byGeneral Rimington to recent issuesof the Magazine.

L. C. DUNSTERVILLE .


The Genius of Rudyard KiplingHid Versed on Soldiering and Sport in Two Continents (Reprinted by permission from

" Horse and Hound.")

K IPLING was torn in Bombayin 1865 and educated at Westward

Ho, Devon, but returning toIndia in 1882 became famous whenjust turned twenty by his stirringverse and graphic stories of Indianmilitary life—Departmental Ditties,Plain Tales from the Hills, SoldiersThree, Barrack Room Ballads, the

Jungle Books, and Kim. These madehim perhaps the most popular writerof the day. He received as the firstEnglishman the Nobel Prize for Litera-ture in 1907 and died in 1936. Al-though primarily regarded as theapostle of Empire, Kipling's workscontain many stories in prose andverse of sport and stirring eventsof flood and field, notably A Sahib'sWar and The Captive in prose, andM. I. (Mounted Infantry) and Lichten-berg (New South Wales Contingent)in verse, the first of which opens asfollows :—

I wish my mother could see me now, witha fence-post under my arm,

And a knife and a spoon in my puttees thatI found on a Boer farm,

Atop of a sore-backed Argentine, with athirst that you couldn't buy.I used to be in the Yorkshires once,(Sussex, Lincolns and Rifles once),Hampshires, Glosters and Scottish once !

(and lib.)But now I am M.I.

That is what we are known as—that is thename you must call

If you want officers' servants, pickets, and'orseguards an' all—

Details for buryin'-parties, company-cooks,or supply-

Turn out the chronic Ikonas ! Roll up the—M.I!

There are seven stanzas in this poem,too many to quote further, but tothose who served in the South AfricanWar the witty satire with which theyare charged is beyond compare. Theraison d'etre of the M.I. was theinability of the authorities at the be-ginning of the war to realise thatthe immobility of heavy-booted in-fantry was fatal to the success ofrounding up mounted Commandosof Boers who knew every squareyard of the veld. Mounted infantryhad therefore to be raised in a hurry ;

horses and ponies were importedfrom all over the world, sent up tothe front weeks before they wereacclimatised, and the wastage ofhorseflesh was lamentable and scandal-ous. Here are two stanzas fromLichtenberg :—

Smells are surer than sounds or sightsTo make your heart-strings crack—

They start those awful voices o' nightsThat whisper " Old man, come back !

That must be why the big things passAnd the little things remain,

Like the smell of the wattle by Lichtenberg,Riding in, in the rain."

I have forgotten a hundred fights,But one I shall not forget—

With the raindrops bunging up my sights,And my eyes bunged up with wet ;

And the crack and the stink of the cordite—Ah.. Christ ! My country again !

The smell of the wattle by Lichtenberg,Riding in, in the rain.

In 1910 appeared Actions and Re-actions, which contains besides Garm,a Hostage, a tale of the loan of a bullterrier to the author by a Tommyin India. Another story is calledLittle Foxes, in which figures anaccount of a foxhunt in Ethiopiaand what happened to a foolish spoil-sport globe-trotter there. The poem,The Power of the Dog, is one of Kip-ling's best creations.

There is sorrow enough in the natural wayFrom men and women to fill our day ;

And when we are certain of sorrow in store,Why do we always arrange for more ?

Brothers and Sisters, I bid you bewareOf giving your heart to a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Naturepermits

Are closing in asthma or tumour or fits,And the vet's unspoken prescription runs

To lethal chambers or loaded guns,Then you will find—it's your own affair,

But . . . . you've given your heart toa dog to tear.

It was said at the time that whenthe Poet Laureateship was vacantin Queen Victoria's reign that Kiplingwould have been offered the postif he had not written a poem calledThe Widow at Windsor to the themeof which Her Majesty took exception,but as it was a comparatively inoffensivepiece of writing I think this unlikely.


The chorus runs :—Then 'ere's to the Widow at Windsor ;

And 'ere's to 'er stores and 'er guns.The men and the 'orses what make up the

forcesO' Missis Victorier's sons.

(Poor beggars ! Victorier's sons !)But for a whiff of the Victorian barrack-yard nothing can bear comparisonwith Back to the Army Again, in whichpoem is portrayed in the inimitablejargon of the old soldier the sentimentsof an ex-infantryman. Would thatspace permitted its recital here !

ANGLO-INDIAN LIFE.Kipling's short stories in Plain

Tales from the Hills and The Day'sWork deal exclusively with incidentsof Anglo-Indian life. Miss Youghal'sSais, The Broken-Link Handicap, andThe Rout of the White Hussars aretales respectively of police work inUpper India, up-country racing, andhow an English cavalry regimentwas stampeded by a skeleton-mounteddrum-horse which was thought tohave been shot after being cast bythe Colonel. In the first Strickland,a police officer, who had masteredfrom A to Z the ins and outs of lingoand ways of native criminals, is re-fused by the parents of his ladyloveon account of his serving in the worst-paid Department in the Empire.After one long talk with Miss Youghalhe disappears for three months frompolice life, and in a disguise whichno one but the lady detects, takesservice as a native groom in her father'sstable. It is not difficult to guessthe sequel. The author opens theBroken-Link Handicap tale with theremark, " There are more ways ofrunning a horse to suit your bookthan pulling his head off in the straight.Some men forget this. Did youever know Shackles—bay waler gelding,15 hands l3/8 in, coarse, loose, mule-likeears—barrel as long as a gate-post,tough as a telegraph-wire, and thequeerest brute that ever looked througha bridle ? He was of no brand,being one of an ear-nicked mob takeninto the Bucephalus at £4 10s. a headto make up freight and sold raw andout of condition, at Calcutta for Rs.275. He trained himself, ran him-self, and rode himself, and if hisjockey insulted him by giving him

hints he shut up at once and buckedthe boy off. But he was beaten inthe end ; and the story of his fall isenough to make angels weep." Inhis last race of all, backed to wina small fortune, Shackles's jockey,a lad from Perth, Western Australia,got " stage fright," owing to hearingan echo from a brick-mound in thelast lap, rammed his heels into Shackles'sside, and the horse stopped short,slid along the course for fifty yards,and bucked his rider off. The Routof the White Hussars cannot possiblybe told as a potted tale. Sufficeit to say that two subalterns, one ofwhom was Hogan-Yale, an Irishman,bought the cast drum-horse at itssale, staged an internment of anotherold waler trap-horse and despatchedthe former at the gallop with a skeletonwired on his back to the barrack-yardat watering time. The White Hussarriders and horses scattered and brokeand fled at the sight.

I suppose that thirty years agoThe Maltese Cat, which appearsin The Day's Work, was known andread in every Mess in India and theUnited Kingdom. Briefly it is anaccount of a final between the poloteam of " a poor but honest infantryregiment," and the Archangels, acrack cavalry regiment, playing withhalf a dozen ponies apiece. It isinconceivable that Rudyard Kipling,who had never played polo, couldhave described with the faithfulnessto detail of T. F. Dale or Moray-Brown the niceties of the give andtake of a polo match, but he did.The Maltese Cat, who was boughtby his owner, the Captain of the Skidarsteam, out of a vegetable cart in Malta,is the hero of the match, and in thefinal goal for his side, to save hisrider who had broken his collar-bone, turned sharp to the right ofthe goalpost, straining his back-sinewsbeyond hope of repair. " When Lut-yens, his owner, married, his wifedid not allow him to play polo anymore, so he was forced to be an umpireand his pony on these occasionswas a flea-bitten grey with a neatpolo-tail, lame all round, but des-perately quick on his feet, and aseveryone knew, Past Pluperfect, Pres-tissimo Player of the Game."—H.R.T,


The Making of England IIIThe third part of an Address to the Auckland, N.Z., Branch of the Kipling Society—by

Mr. F. S. Townley-Little, Chairman and Vice-President.

NOW, with England establishedin all her glory, let us note thereaction of the Great Dominions

and Colonies towards her. Whenthe question of the independenceof Canada arose, what was that country'sanswer, even while asserting the rightto freedom of action ?

" The gates are mine to open—As the gates are mine to close—

And I abide by my Mother's houseSaid our Lady of the Snows."

And then note the tie of affectionbetween England and South Africa,a tie that remains unbroken in spiteof all politicians and separatists :" Lived a woman wonderful,

May the Lord amend her,Neither wise nor kind nor trueBut her pagan beauty drewChristian gentlemen a ' fewHotly to attend her.Christian gentlemen a few,From Berwick unto Dover,For she was South AfricaAnd she was South AfricaShe was our South Africa,Africa all over !"

Then again Australia, at the birthof the Commonwealth, in that wonder-ful poem. The Young Queen, as-serting at the one time both herdependence and her independence." It shall be crown of our crowning

to hold our crown as thy gift ;In the days when our folks were

feeble thy sword made goodour lands,

Wherefore we come in power toseek our crown at thy hands."

And so with all the dependenciesof England. In the terrible daysfrom 1914-1918, the way in whichthey rallied round the Motherlandis an assertion that should for everstill the voice of the Little Englanderand the separatist and prove to allthe world the solidarity of the BritishEmpire. Although these following wordswere really written for a gatheringin the Albert Hall of the survivors

of the Indian Mutiny, yet they applywith equal force to any crisis thatmay arise in the British Empire to-day.

" One service more we dare to ask—Pray for us, heroes, pray,That when Fate lays on us our taskWe do not shame the day !"

And is not an Empire like this worthrighting for ? Kipling has soundedmany a solemn note of warning—nevermore needed than to-day—when, inthese times of treachery and dis-loyalty, truly one's foes are sometimesthose of his own household, we hearthe prophetic note in The City ofBrass." For the hate they had taught

through the State brought theState no defender,

And it passed from the roll ofthe Nations in headlong surrender."

But how many there are who willnot heed the handwriting on the walltill the day of doom is actually uponthem ! In The Islanders, thoughwritten at the time of the Boer War,the warning is as clear to-day as itwas then to those who are unprepared." When ye go forth at morning and

the noon beholds you broke,. Ere ye lay down at even, your

remnant under the yoke."What greater patriotic poem has everbeen written than Kipling's Songof the English ? How "can one dobetter than end on the same note asthe poet in his idea of service—ofstainless honour—and of obedienceto the higher powers." Fair is our lot—O goodly is our

heritage !Humble ye my people and be fearful

in your mirth !For the Lord our God Most HighHe hath made the deep as dry,He hath smote for us a pathway

to the ends of all the Earth !Keep ye the law—be swift in all

obedience—Clear the land of evil, drive the

road and bridge the ford.


Make ye sure to each his ownThat he reap where he hath sown ;By the Peace among our peoples

let men know we serve the Lord."And we have England's answer

and her promise to her Dependencies." Also we will make promise. So

long as the Blood enduresI shall know that your good is mine ;

ye shall feel that my strengthis yours."

The great Empires of the past—Assyria,Persia, Greece, Rome—where are theyto-day ? All have disappeared and

left nothing but monuments andrelics behind—beautiful in their decayperhaps, but naught save the deadruins of a vanished past. For theywere built on an insecure foundation.The British Empire has its rootsin the great principles of truth, justiceand righteousness, and as long asit is true to these ideals, so long willit stand and flourish. Let us keepin mind those solemn words of Kip-ling's Recessional—never more preg-nant with meaning than now—" Lest we forget—lest we forget !"

Kipling as Journalist in India

IN an article which the late Mr.E. Kay Robinson contributed toLiterature on " Rudyard Kipling

as a Journalist " he states that hewrote to Kipling in 1886 and toldhim that a man who could write ashe could should go home to England,to London, where fame could be won ;but he replied in a characteristicletter as follows :—" You ought toknow better at your time of life thanto knock a youngster off his legs inthis way. How do you expect anyonewill be able to hold me after yourletter ? Would you be astonishedif I told you that I look forward tonothing but an Indian journalist'scareer ? Why should I ? My home'sout here ; my people are out here ;all the friends I know are out here ;and all the interests I have are outhere. Why should I go home ?Any fool can put up rhymes, and themarket is full of boys who could under-sell me as soon as I put foot in it.Let us depart our several ways inamity. You to Fleet Street (whereI shall come when I die if I'm good)and I to my own place, where I findheat and smells of oil and spices andpuffs of temple incense and sweatand darkness and dirt and lust andcruelty, and—above all—things wonder-ful and fascinating innumerable. Giveme time, give me seven years, andthree added to them, and abide thepublishment of Mother Maturin."

Mother Maturin was the great work

by which for many years Kiplingproposed to make his name. In1886 he had 350 foolscap pages ofits manuscript lying at the bottomof a ' bruised tin tea box.' It was, hesaid, " the novel which is alwaysbeing written and yet gets no forrader."

After describing the pains whichKipling took to get the wonderfulknowledge he displayed in his work,Mr. Robinson went on to revealwhere Kipling got his stories. " Bythe road, thick with the dust of camelsand thousands of cattle and goats,which winds from Lahore Fort acrossthe River Rair, there are walled caravan-serais, the distant smell of whichmore than suffices for most of theEuropeans who pass ; but sittingwith the travellers from Bokhara orBadakhshan in the reeking interiorKipling heard weird tales and gatheredmuch knowledge. Under a spreadingpeepul tree overhanging a well bythe same road squatted daily a ringof almost naked fakirs, smeared withashes, who scowled at the Europeansdriving by, but for Kipling therewas, if he wished it, an opening inthe squatting circle, and much tobe learned from the unsavoury talkers.That is how his finished word picturestake the life-like aspect of instantaneousphotographs. When, moreover, anyman acquired a reputation for specialskill in his calling, to him Kiplingalways went for knowledge. Frommen like Warburton of the Police,

16THE KIPLING JOURNAL July, 1942

J. R. Bell* of the Civil Engineers, Mulroney of the Medical, Henderson— of the Secret Service, and others—

(*J. R. Bell was the original " Bridge mostly dead now—he learned theBuilder " in Kipling's story of that secrets of life and work and crime onname. He spent twenty years in India the large and often lurid scale thatin the P.W.D. and died at Ightham, fits the colouring of an Eastern can-Kent, in July, 1912.) vas." —E. W. M.

Jerome K. Jerome on R.K.R.K.'s importance in the literary field in 1900

I CAME across the following IdleIdeas, by Jerome K. Jerome, inThe Sun of May 7th, 1900, which

shows how chagrined some authorsof that period were at Kipling'simportance not only in the literaryfield, but in the world at large aswell :—

" I speak on the subject with batedbreath. I know the retort courteousand otherwise that can be madeagainst me. For months I havestruggled against the inclination tosay it. I have wrestled with myevil nature ; I have tried to bringmyself concerning this thing to aproper frame of mind, but the devilin me has got the better of me ; Itry to keep silent, but he drives meon to say it. It is an awful speechto make. What will become of mewhen I have done it I dare not think.My conscience cries frantically tome. Fight against this evil impulse ;think what you are doing. I canhardly expect that afterwards I shallhave a single friend 1 eft to me. Isee mothers snatching their childrenfrom my path for fear of contactwith me. I hear the curses of allgood men ringing round me in mysleep. I know it will not be un-deserved if I have to end the restof my miserable life shunned bythe human species. I even wonderif afterwards my very dog will notdesert me. Yet I have come tothat pass when I must say it or expirein spontaneous combustion. It isthis—and I beg the printer to putit in the smallest type he can commandin the hope that it will escape atten-tion : " I'm getting just a little weebit tired of Mr. Kipling."

* * *"Already I feel better. The die

is cast, my fate is sealed. I am waitingto see what happens to me. Fiveminutes have passed, and no lightninghas yet descended upon me fromHeaven. The sky has not even be-come suddenly overcast. I have saidit, and I live. Why is this ? Canit be that there is any legitimateexcuse for me ? The mood willpass. I shall return to read myKipling again with the profit andpleasure I once derived from him.But since this war began he appearsto have dominated the universe tothe exclusion of all other beliefs.Kipling day by day has grown intoa sort of nightmare. " Kipling andthe Queen," " Kipling and the GermanEmperor," " Kipling and TommyAtkins," " Kipling in the Hospital,"" Kipling in the train that's goingto the Hospital," " Kipling beforehe got into the train that went tothe Hospital," " Kipling on the Boers,"" Kipling on People who dare toexpress an Opinion on the Boers,"" Kipling on People who dare tosay anything about People who sayanything about the Boers," " Kiplingon the War," " Kipling on the Causesthat led to the War," " Kipling onthe Settlement that is to come afterthe War," " Kipling on Everybodyand Everything under Heaven, exceptKipling," " Kipling at the Front,"" Kipling round the Corner." Forthe last six months it has been Kiplingthis and Kipling that, Kipling hereand Kipling there, till there has comeover me an unholy longing to finda corner of the globe that Mr. Kiplingdoesn't boss, and go and live there.Maybe this is the best thing thatcould happen to me, only I don'tknow where to find it."

VICTORIAN.


Letter BagCorrespondents are asked to keep letters for publication as short as possible.

TWO OF OUR MEMBERS INJAPAN.

I AM sure members will learnwith regret that Mr. and Mrs.Gatenby, who joined the Kipling

Society in its earlier days, have beeninterned in Japan. Mr. Gatenby hadbeen for a number of years a Professorof English at a University Collegein Fukishima, and latterly at a placecalled Sendai. They were keen mem-bers of the Society and were alwaysinterested in our activities. Theyare close friends of mine, and untilthe outbreak of war we had carriedon a regular and constant correspon-dence giving them all the latest " Kip-ling " news.

In October of last year I had apostcard from them written in July(!) asking for news of us all. I wroteoff at once, but unfortunately Japanhad by that time entered the war,and my letter was returned to meas " Undeliverable." Then came an-other card written in October whichreached me in December—and thatis the last word I have had from them.G. wrote of their plans to returnhome in March (1942)—now, alas,impossible.

I am in touch with the ForeignOffice, who will let me have anyfurther details of the Gatenbys' fateor whereabouts as soon as this in-formation leaks through. If I hearanything further, or get an addressto which I can write, I will ask theEditor to publish it in the Journalas I believe many members willlike to write a few words of comfortand cheer to relieve their hardship.—W. G. B. MAITLAND, 39, Marl-borough Place, London, N.W.8.THE WORD "STEER."

The word " steer " in the lastlines of the first paragraph of myletter in the December, 1941 KiplingJournal, is a misprint for " sheer."To " sheer to port " is to surge inthat direction whether under wayor not. In the case quoted the shipwas not under way, but the reactionfrom the starboard anchor's breakingout would send her head to port.

Motorists mentioning a " sk id"parallel perfectly a sailor who talksof " taking a sheer."

My sentence would be well under-stood by sailors because of its con-text, but landsmen may sense a con-tradiction in " steer " without havingsteerage way.—T. E. ELWELL, Drew'sCourt, Churchdown, Gloucester.

SHAKESPEARE AND KIPLING.A correspondent recently wrote

to the President asking if there wasany record of Kipling having re-ferred to the tradition that Shakespearewas consulted with regard to theactual wording of parts of the Bible,and particularly in regard to thePsalms. General Dunsterville referredhim to the story " Proofs of HolyWrit ' ' which was published in theStrand Magazine of April, 1934,since collected in the Sussex Edition.Attention was drawn to the fact thatthe Psalms were translated from theHebrew in the year 1610. In thatyear Shakespeare was 46 years old,and it will be found that the 46thword from the beginning of the 46thPsalm is " shake " and the 46th wordfrom the end of the Psalm is " spear."

Were such codes usual at thattime ? It is a matter of great interest,of course, and although Kipling doesnot deal with the Psalms, but Isaiah,the whole question will be of generalinterest to students of Kipling aswell as of Shakespeare.—LONDONMEMBER.

[Captain Martindell informs us thatan exhaustive account is given of theAuthorised Version of 1611 in theintroduction to Scrivener's " CambridgeParagraph Bible," 1873. There isalso Eadie's " The English Bible,an External and Critical Historyof the various English Translationsof Scripture," 1876, which is one ofthe fullest popular accounts extant ofthe whole subject and contained in twovolumes. Sir Sidney Lee makes nomention of Shakespeare having any-thing to do with the translation of theBible in his " Life of William Shakes-peare."—Ed.]


KiplingianaPress and other comment on Kipling and his work

WAR IN KIPLING LAND,

IN the Yorkshire Observer of Feb-ruary 6th the following note appear-ed :

Japan is now carrying war intothe Kipling Country.

It has long been known to us thatthe blackest crimes at Clapham maybe chaste at Martaban. But onlythe more earnest students of Kiplingknew with precision where Martabanwas, the rest of us being content inthe assurance that it was somewherehot, romantic, slightly sinister, and(of course) East o' Suez. Now, thanksto the Japanese, we all recognise thisplace where the moral values of aLondon suburb were upset, as a townof strategic importance in Burma.

Similarly, that old call sent outso long ago from beside the old Moul-mein Pagoda, looking lazy at the sea,has now been answered. " Comeyou back, you British soldier, comeyou back to Mandalay." But it isno longer merely the dawn that comesup like thunder outer China 'crostthe Bay.

As I browsed through Kipling,tasting the old fascination of temple-bells, and winds in palm trees, andthe Best of the Breed in tropic lands,I encountered a delightful parallelbetween two speeches. Squadron-Lead-er J. B. Nicolson, V.C., speaking inLeeds the other day as part of theArk Royal Week proceedings, said :" I ask you if you have done yourbest, to do a little more, and, if youhave not done your best, to do a lotmore."

Speaking in May, 1912, Kiplingsaid : " I f you give a man more thanhe can do he will do it. If you onlygive him what he can do, he'll donothing." Kipling's old friend, theBritish Tommy, now fighting againstthe background of Kipling's verse,should, on this showing, never feelthat the Far Eastern situation is toomuch for him. In the end, he'll" do it.""THE BLUE LAST."

In Dorset Street, a little steep street

that falls off Salisbury Square, FleetStreet, London, I noticed (writesa correspondent in the ManchesterGuardian) the lower part of a brokenbuilding being picked to pieces tobe carted away. It looks a domesticbuilding and near its doorway issome ironwork that obviously helda sign. I remember the sign—itwas " The Blue Last,"—and thehouse was an inn until the last war,when it became an office building,and the blue last, a roughly carvedwooden model, was taken to a public-house near by.

But the old Blue Last had its legends.One was about Rudyard Kiplingwriting his " Absent-minded Beggar "during the Boer War at the " St.James's Gazette " office, which wasopposite, needing inspiration for his1st verse, and coming over to the BlueLast for a pint of beer. Some punditshave it that it was Kipling's " Bolivar "that prompted the excursion, andcertainly its last verse justified thepint.

But its literary associations go backbeyond Kipling. Early in the centuryI had a chop there, and a friend whotook me there drew out the dingywaiter about them. " Thackeray camehere, didn't he ?" The waiter replied," Oh, yes—Thackeray. He was aregular. Yes, he cut that initialthere on the pew—there it is, ' T.'Yes, ' T ' for Thackeray, sir." Laterwe asked him about Tennyson—' he used the inn, didn't he ?" Thewaiter was ready for us. " Tennyson,yes—he was a regular too. Let mesee. Yes, he cut his initial somewhere.There it is. Yes, ' T '—' T ' forTennyson."

GENERAL MACARTHUR ANDKIPLING.

The Daily Sketch recently publishedan extract from a letter written byGeneral MacArthur before the UnitedStates came into the war, whichthrows light on his character.' Itwas Sent ''from 'Marilla to comradesof the last war and says : " I am hard


at work in this far-flung outpostin the Pacific trying to prepare itto meet any crisis that may arise.

I only hope that if I have to fightagain I may find behind me suchtroops as composed the 42nd Division.Swift and sure in attack, tenaciousand determined in defence, theyaroused perfect confidence in theirown commanders and a sense ofanxiety and concern in the ranksof their opponents.

They truly constituted what Kiplingcalls ' first-class fighting men.' Givethem my affectionate regards."

UNITY.The following cutting from the

New York World Telegram has beensent to us by Mr. William BrittonStitt, of New York. This appearedon Monday, December 8th, 1941." Till, dazed by many doubts,

he wakes.The drumming guns that—have

no doubts."Kipling wrote that, back in 1894,

of " An American " and " The Ameri-can Spirit."

America has been attacked. Thedrumming guns are sounding. Andmany problems have been solvedon a Sabbath day. Chief of theseis the problem of national unity.We will have that unity—from hereon.

America now turns, as Kiplingsaid, " A keen, untroubled face home,to the instant need of things."

THE IMMORTALITY OF KIP-LING.

Another cutting has reached usfrom the American press—this timefrom the New York Herald Tribune—sent by Mr. Paul E. Vernon, Brooklyn,New York. It is given below infull :—

" Rudyard Kipling would have beenseventy-six years old if he had liveduntil tomorrow. With what grimconcern he doubtless would havewatched the struggle that is goingon for the preservation of all thathe held dear ! This tremendous con-flict has not yet produced, so far aswe can see at the moment, any out-standing literary voice ; it has re-awakened more than one memory

of the heritage which Kipling left.For some time before his death inthe early part of 1936 there wereobvious signs of what might be calleda Kipling revival ; those signs, inthe intervening years, have multiplied.He had a rare something that persiststhrough the decades, and we couldnot ignore it if we tried.

A new edition of his works, to beknown as the Burwash Edition, issoon to be issued. But that is byno means all. Just as the olderpeople are ' turning back to theirKipling, so are the young ones makingthe discovery that here was a writerwhose seductive cadences never die.The young men about town, in uni-form and out, are given these daysto quoting from him. They arerememorizing his Recessional ; inthe bars there is heard the song aboutthe little lost sheep, and there is talkof Fuzzy-Wuzzy and all the rest.

It is, to be sure, rather far-fetchedto attempt to consider Kipling as achampion of the democratic ideal.He was, in his way, a Diehard Tory,and there is no need to try to denyhis jingoism, his Imperialism andhis preoccupation with ways of lifethat are somewhat out of date today.But that is not the point ; he hadsomething more than all that, andthat is why he survives. And amongthose immortal qualities were a highand stirring gallantry, a courage thatnever failed in the face of the mostterrible circumstances, and a spirit—adventurous, romantic and essentiallydecent—that must appeal always tothe men and women who are on theright side of this battle to the death.From Dover to Singapore, Kipling'sis still a voice of the far-flung battleline."

£5,000 KIPLING RELICS.A presentation copy of Kipling's

" The White Man's Burden " fetched£125 in New York when sold with400 other Kipling relics, which totalledover £5,000.—B.U.P., from the London" Evening News."

BLUNT AND KIPLING.The following note from Mr. William

White, of Whitman College, WallaWalla, Washington, U.S.A., appearedin Notes and Queries —" One source


of literary odds and ends which hasnot been thoroughly investigated isthe catalogues of rare-book dealers.Time and again these privately printedbooks have contained first and onlyprintings of letters, diaries, poeticalfragments and marginalia ; and whilethey are published for purely com-mercial reasons, they are neverthelesssometimes important to the scholar.In a catalogue printed in 1936 byMr. David Magee, of San Francisco,California, I found this summer twobits of choice literary criticism writtenby A. E. Housman in two books byWilfrid Blunt and Rudyard Kipling.Mr. Magee tells me that they wereprinted also in Joseph Henry Jackson'sbook-review column in the San Fran-cisco Chronicle some time duringthe summer of 1936, but they areso delightful and typical of Housmanthat they deserve wider circulation.

On the half-title of Wilfrid Blunt's' Love Sonnets of Proteus ' (London,1898), Housman, evidently disappointedwith the poetry, inscribed the followingquatrain in pencil :

If boots were bonnets,These might be sonnets.But boots are not ;So don't talk rot.

The other comment by Housmanappears on the last page of RudyardKipling's The Seven Seas (London,1896) opposite the famous line " Shalldraw the Thing as he sees It for theGod of Things as They Are !" Hous-man's couplet in pencil reads :

The God of Things as They Are is neverthe God for me,

For He is the God of Things as They DidNot Ought To Be.

Another comment by A. E. H. onKipling was pencilled in his copyof ' The Five Nations ' (London,1903), now in the possession of Mrs.William S. Kuder, of Oakland, Cali-fornia. On p. 56 of this book, oppositeKipling's line, " David went to lookfor donkeys, and by God he founda kingdom !" Housman corrects theother poet's history with the acidremark : " by God he didn't."

TO MY FAG.A note appeared in The Scotsman

dated December 24th 1941 :—(SirMark Young, the Governor of Hong-Kong, was at one time the fag ofProfessor Oliffe Richmond, of theChair of Humanity in EdinburghUniversity. To mark his appreciationof his former fag's heroic standProfessor Richmond has sent usthe following lines) :—

Mark, you were tough and grim enoughAs a youngster, and a memory lingersOf you in your fagmaster's chairCurled in your muddy boots (that made

me swear),My Kipling clutched between most inky

fingers.

Tough, grim and gay, you went your wayWhen I was a don and you a scholar.No need of me or my chairs or books :You gave the softer arts but sidelong looks,And glowered on fools, but more in scorn

than choler.

Once we met by chance (you were homefrom France)

At Charing Cross and the train from Dover,You from the trenches muddy and grim—-Fagmaster proud you stopped to welcome

him,Still by your hands and boots his fag all

over.

Now you've Chinese boys to fag for ploys ;For (here there can't be two opinions)Men have found in you the sterling stuffOf Kipling's Britisher grim and tough,And sent you, Governor where you best

belongWith more than toasting-forks to hold Hong-

Kong,The toughest, grimmest job in the King's

Dominions

" NINE-AND-SIXTY WAYS."The Oswestry Advertiser, in a

competition note, has this reference :—" I wonder if any of you have reada poem by Rudyard Kipling in whichhe writes : " There are nine-and-sixty ways of constructing tribal lays,and every single one of them is right."I thought of that quotation whenI was opening the entries for ourcompetition in which I asked youto give a list of words beginningwith the letters " Can." For I havehad 99 entries and as Kipling says,every single one of them is right.Now there's a problem for you . . . ."

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CONTENTS - kiplingjournal.com · 2 THEJuly, 1942 KIPLING JOURNAL poet and as a man. In such a cataract of gratuitous and indiscriminate invective, who shall escape ? All we can do