Duke Of Cambridge Assaulted By Dancing Master

With the disproportionate attention devoted to the red top press in the news, despite famine and financial crisis, I thought I might indulge in my breakfast pastime of inventing headlines for historic events.

The Duke of Cambridge in this instance is not William Windsor but Prince George Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904), grandson of George III. His Uncle, William IV, and his consort Queen Adelaide made the Royal Pavilion at Brighton an autumn and winter residence and inherited Madame Michau as Mistress of Ceremonies.

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge
Wikimedia

During the occupation of the Royal abode by "William and Adelaide,—when it received the name of The Palace,—it was a continued scene of regal festivities, juvenile parties being very frequent. The present Duke, then Prince George of Cambridge, was a great favourite with Their Majesties, who specially humoured his fancies and frolics. Royalty, however, is very tenacious of its dignity; whereof the following is a proof: Upon occasions when the youthful aristocracy were invited to the Palace, it was invariably usual for the arrangements of the evening to be under the immediate superintendence of the celebrated maitresse de dause, Madame Michau, who, not unfrequently, was assisted in her duties by her son, now well-known as Mons. James Michau, and the arrangement graciously received the Royal sanction. With the Prince and his youthful associates the son of the dancing mistress was considered fair game for their sporting humour; they therefore resorted to practical joking upon him, well-knowing that difference in position forbad his making a retort. But it happened upon one occasion that either the Prince exceeded his usual indignities, or that young Michau was not in a philosophic placid temper, as he offered a remonstrance, which excited a blow from His Royal Highness, resulting in a bout of fisticuffs, from which the Prince came off second best. The indignity, thus justly administered, was forthwith resented, the Royal communication, through Mr. Gee, Her Majesty's page, being that Madame Michau's services would not again be required. A retributive incident shortly after occurred that entirely put an end to the Palace youthful gatherings. Prince George, for a diversion, had purchased a mechanical mouse, and, having wound it up, he placed it upon the floor, when it chanced to travel in the direction of the Queen. Her Majesty had not observed the toy until it closely approached her, when, feeling a sudden alarm, she rose hurriedly, uttering an ejaculation of fear, a procedure so undignifying to her exalted position that she immediately retired, and no other juvenile party at the Palace ever after took place.

History of Brighthelmstone or Brighton as I view it and others knew it

John Ackerson Erredge

Brighton: E. Lewis 1862

Society Dancing

Society Dancing

Fashionable Bodies in England, 1870-1920

Theresa Jill Buckland is Professor of Performing Arts in the Department of Performance and Digital Arts at De Montfort University. Last week she launched her book, Society Dancing: Fashionable Bodies in England, 1870-1920.

Theresa says, "There are two pictures of Louis D'Egville junior in the book taken from the Tatler 1911, a couple of pages on Louis (father and son) plus a little background. It should help I hope to provide a wider context for their dancing activities and where they stood in terms of status."

No one is better qualified to write this book than Theresa. I found her paper "Edward Scott: The Last of the English Dancing Masters" (Theresa Jill Buckland Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research Vol. 21, No. 2) an incisive and valuable source of information on the professional and social world of Louis (father and son).

Louis (father and son) in this instance refers to Louis Hervey d'Egville (1819-1892) and Louis Hervey d'Egville (1855-1927). Louis (son) was grandfather to Alan d'Egville Stott of the South African Air Force who was killed at the age of 24 on the Warsaw supply missions of August 1944. Which ties neatly with yesterday's posting. Any semblance of order or structure on this blog is entirely illusory.

Society Dancing
Fashionable Bodies in England, 1870-1920
Theresa Jill Buckland
Palgrave Macmillan
13 Jun 2011
9780230277144
Hardback
264 pages
Price £50.00

A Sad Assemblage

Alan Hervey d'Egville (1891-1951) had an older sister, Evelyn Marguerite (1883-?), known a Madge. She married Dr. William Harold Stott and they made their home together in South Africa. They had at least two sons, Michael and Alan.

Alan was born in 1920 and was perhaps named after his uncle. By the age of 24 Alan was a Lieutenant in the South African Air Force and was flying on operations as a Navigator with 178 Squadron Royal Air Force.

In the summer of 1944 Warsaw was still occupied by the Nazis; but on the 1 August the Polish resistance Home Army rose up against the occupying forces. Stalin's Red Army sat on the opposite bank of the River Vistula within a few hundred metres of the Polish lines yet made no attempt to support them.

Churchill's requests to both Roosevelt and Stalin for support were unsuccessful. Under British command the Royal Air Force, the South African Air Force and the Polish Air Force began over 200 low level missions to supply the Polish Home Army.

To avoid the heavily defended areas of the Reich an alternative route was chosen over northern Italy with a round trip of 3200 km. The cost in human lives to supply the Polish allies was high - 69 South Africans never returned. 17 aircraft were shot down on the weekend of 13-16 August alone. On the 15 August Alan d'Egville Stott was one the men who did not make it home.

Alan is buried in Krackow Rakowicki Cemetery but some of his effects were returned to his family. These have now come to light on a South African auction site, bid or buy.co.za. The small collection includes a cap badge that has been turned into a brooch, some buttons from his tunic, his "pips," a cigarette lighter and an identity tag.

The starting bid was R150.00 but the collection does not appear to have been sold. It seeems particularly sad to me that these personal items might become buried in somebody's personal collection of militaria.

Speaking From Beyond The Grave

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Lot 193 in an auction held at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow on 16 May 2009 was a series of four letters from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They are undated but refer to a séance held on Wednesday 14 December. The letter below was sent in advance of the séance and has a pencil annotation "nov." We know that it occurred in 1921 because the journalist Filson Young was invited to take part.

Young described the proceedings in an article "Hymns and Humbug" published in the Saturday Review on the 21 January 1922. A zinc trumpet had been placed in the centre of the participants and when the lights were extinguished spirit voices were heard from around the group. The trumpet was about four feet long and when Young placed the trumpet out of reach of the other participants no more voices ceased.

After Young wrote personally to Conan Doyle explaining that the participants had been duped and the article appear Conan Doyle waged a war of words against Young. This is consistent with Conan Doyle's behaviour on other occasions when his beliefs were challenged (see The Secret Life of Harry Houdini: The Making of America's First Super Hero William Kalush and Larry Ratso Sloman, Pocket Books, 2007) .

The fouth person listed in the planned company is one d'Egville, "said to be a rising man." I'm uncertain to whom this refers. Young's biography (Filson Young: The first media man (1876-1938),  Silvester Mazzarella, date unknown) quotes that a ‘public singer’ was present. It will be interesting to try and discover whether d'Egville attended and who he was. I won't be organising a séance to garner evidence from primary sources.

International Autograph Auctions Ltd.

A Footnote In A Sectarian Rant

The subject of The Pope's Cabinet Unlocked by the author of "Gerald, A Tale of Conscience," "Catholicism" etc.(Gorges Lowther, London: Hall and Co., Bath: S. Hayvvard, 1849) is described by the author as,

"The Cabinet of a Pope, who lived in the days of Martin Luther, discovered, in which among other interesting documents were found several articles relating to the doctrine of indulgences, all of which will be faithfully and dispassionately transcribed, and impartially explained for the instruction of his readers, whether Protestants or Romanists, by the writer of the following Book."

The extent to which Lowther's words are dispassionate is revealed succinctly when he refers to,

"all those speculating, selfish, and politically religious members of the legislature, who tendered their votes to the Queen's present ministers and advisers, in aid of their efforts to unchristianize the Protestant Parliament, by admitting Jews to become members of it—those scoffers, scorners, and despisers of Him who is God as well as man..."

So the slight presence of Mr. d'Egville on these pages is confusing and it seems he is an entirely innocent bystander. The footnote appears to be supplementary to the author's comment on those parliamentarians who seek to convince the protestant British that the Roman Catholic Church are, "completely harmless, and governed by an humble, tolerant, and enlightened priesthood, among whom, were no longer to be found either Dominicks, Loyolas, or Xaviers..."

The footnote is a quote from the Hereford Journal and contributes to our knowledge of the d'Egvilles involvement in ceremonial music. As the notice does not provide a forename the identity of Mr. d'Egville can only be guessed but you can choose from Louis d'Egville (1786-1857) and his sons James and Louis. It should be noted, because of the context of this footnote, that these men were all Freemasons and as such would have been excommunicated had they been Roman Catholics. As far as can be determined from church records they were Anglicans in the observance of the rituals that define our passage through life.

From the Hereford Journal, Wednesday, July 31, 1839.—The Catholic Church of St. Francis Xavier, Hereford, will be solemnly opened for Divine Service, on Wednesday and Thursday, August 7 and 8, 1839. On Wednesday morning, High Mass will be celebrated, and a Sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. Brown, Prior of Downside College, Somersetshire. On Wednesday evening, Vespers will be sung, and a Sermon preached by the Rev. T. M. M'Donnell, of Birmingham; which will be followed by a Solemn Benediction of the blessed Sacrament; the Right Rev. Dr. Baines, Vicar-Apostolic of the Western District, will officiate as High Priest. On Thursday Morning, High Mass will be celebrated, after which the Sacrament of Confirmation will be administered, and a Sermon preached by the Right Rev. Dr. Baines, V.A. Principal Vocal Performers:—Mrs. Alban Croft, Miss Davis, Maidemoiselle Parigiani, Mr. Alban Croft, and Sig. Brizzi. Leader of the Band, Mr. D. Egville; Conductor, Mr. Sefton. Mr. Beresford (of Worcester) will preside at the Organ. The Two Grand High Masses will be Mozart's No. 12, and Haydn's Imperial Mass, No. 2. Service will commence at 11 o'Clock each Morning, and at 7 o'Clock in the Evening. Tickets of Admission for Morning or Evening—Stalls, 5s.; Open Seats, 3s: to be had at Mr. T. N. Webb's and the other Booksellers in Hereford.

Alan d'Egville's Silver Screen Career

In 1936 two films in which Alan d'Egville had a part were released. He collaborated in the screenplay of Highland Fling with Ralph Stock. According to the British Film Institute Library Synopsis, the plot of this film can be condensed to, "Private detectives are asked to find a will mislaid in a haunted Scottish castle."

Ralph Stock wrote at least seven screenplays either alone or in collaboration with other authors. His scripts were given life by actors such as Sir John Mills, Gordon Harker and Patrick Macnee.

Alan seems to have worked on just the one production but unlike Ralph Stock he also appeared in a film which was released in the same year. Fox British Pictures produced a comedy short starring the great comedian Robb Wilton, Servants All. The British Film Institute describe this movie as, a "Comedy in which servants change places with aristocrats."

This cast are an interesting little company in themselves, including Viola Compton - the sister of the writer Compton MacKenzie - and an early performance by Cyril Cusack. Alan played the character of Mr. Horton-Pratt.

Alan had experience of acting and appeared in Berlin - whether before or after these movies I do not yet know - although from the dates I suspect that it was before 1936. I'm eager to read his autobiography, Adventures in Safety (London: Sampson Low, 1937).

d'Aigueville Volunteers His Services

This morning when Jean Martellière and I exchanged emails he reminded me about the Spanish Escolano d'Aigueville family. I've always been unsure if this family are connected but they are on my extensive list of questions.

They have certainly been in Spain for a while because we know that on 16 January 1779 d'Aigueville wrote to Benjamin Franklin and offered his services as American Consul-General in Alicante. d'Aigueville's letter was written in the French language but we might expect that as it was the language of diplomacy.

The spelling used is the same as that used by Pierre d'Aigueville (although Pierre also signed himself d'Agueville) but the name Hervé never seems to have been associated with the individual in Alicante. The usual combination of questions about the name apply as much in this case as they do to Pierre.

If any descendants of the Escolano d'Aigueville family know why d'Aigueville established himself in Spain and who he was we will be delighted to hear from you.

Alan's Ski-ing Holiday In Canada

Among the collections of the Canadian Ski Museum is Alan Hervey d'Egville's memoir of a ski-ing holiday. I too have excused myself for drinking an entire bottle of spirits on the grounds that it had "gone off." Which just demonstrates that there is nothing new under the sun - particularly where excuses are concerned. I should probably state that nighttime ski-ing under the influence of alcohol should not be emulated at home.

The Admiral had provided me with the world's largest flask in case of accidents, and I had a couple of big accidents the moment I arrived. Besides in the inn was a certain Major, with bottles and bottles of De Kuyper's gin. God rest his soul - the Major's I mean, not so much De Kuyper, though I helped the Major out of a great difficulty by drinking nearly a whole bottle to prevent it going mildewed. After dinner we played charades. I was rotten. I must take a course in "How to become a 100 per cent charader and earn big dough on the side. Be popular! Be the life and soul of the party. Send no money! Merely pay the postman three hundred dollars and a few cents postage. The College of Charades. Olikaboof. Wash."

That night we sallied forth to try a bit of road ski-ing by moonlight. Unfortunately there was no moon, but that made no difference till you hit an electric light post or a wandering cow.

The Canadian Ski Annual, Season 1931

The entire article can be downloaded in pdf format.

Darts With The Lid Off

A splendid defensive uniform made in the home

I've never given too much thought to darts unlike Alan and Geoffrey d'Egville or Dr. Patrick Chaplin. I found Patrick's site while tangled in the World Wide Web and discovered a 1983 review of Darts With The Lid Off (Alan and Geoffrey d'Egville, Cassell, 1938) by Mat Coward.

The last time I can remember playing darts I think I had probably already spent too much time and money in a pub and my opponent and I picked craters in the plaster on the kitchen wall in a rented basement flat. My opinion of darts as a sport would have been influenced by the Not The Nine O'Clock News sketch which is now as much a part of the history of darts as Alan and Geoffrey's book.  

According to his website, Patrick's "unique thesis focuses mainly on the period 1918 to 1939 and reveals the forces that transformed the humble traditional English pub game of darts into a social phenomenon during the interwar years, forces that laid the foundations for the international sport that we all recognise today." (http://www.patrickchaplin.com/Doctorofdarts.htm 2006, Gerald O’Lapane and Patrick Chaplin). The dust jacket of Darts With The Lid Off has wonderful cartoons of stereotypes we recognise today and probably still associate with that sport.

Darts With The Lid Off (Cassell, 1938)

Patrick also has an article on the Language of Darts which quotes extensively from Darts With The Lid Off. So if you want to know the meaning and origins of the phrase "Euston Road" you must visit his site. This is entirely consistent with a certain discreet ribaldry that is present in Alan's writing.

I'm compiling a bibliography of Alan's work and until I began the task was unaware of how prolific he was as a writer and the esteem with which he is held by sporting enthusiasts even sixty years after his death. Alan's significant contribution to the development of modern winter sports is apparent from the number of skiing guides he published as much as his reputation in Murren.