Tag Archives: autodidact

Meeting Ruth Pitter

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George Orwell at Southwold

The Artist – Charlie Uzzel-Edwards

Who? Yes, until five minutes ago I would have said the same. I was searching “autodidact” on Google when I came upon a list of famous autodidacts. This included William Blake, John  Clare and George Orwell. George Orwell, didn’t he go to Public School? (Note to overseas readers – a Public School is one that the public is most definitely excluded from by means of high fees and snobbery. A Minor Public School is much the same, but they are looked down on by the Public Schools, despite still being exclusive. There’s a layer of private schooling below that, and then you come down to the schools that most of the public go to. Confused? Me too.)

Anyway, back to George Orwell. He went to Eton. Current Fees at Eton are £21,099.60 including VAT. That is for a “Half”. There are three halves in a year at Eton. I’m suspecting that they don’t teach a lot of maths in Public Schools. Then there are music lessons and “extras”, registration fees and uniforms. It soon mounts up. However, they do say that bursaries are available and no parent should feel that the cannot send their kid to Eton on account of the cost. This may be true, but I can’t help feeling that class and snobbery may make life difficult if you come from a working class home. Twenty Prime Ministers have gone to Eton, about a third. It’s not a place for the poor, the modest or the lower class.

So there you go – George Orwell, the man who is reputed to have educated himself, went to a school where it would currently cost you the thick end of £70,000 to send one of your children. Now, I know I can come across as having a bit of a chip on my shoulder regarding private education, but if I was paying £70,000 a year I’d not expect my kids to have to educate themselves.

But back to Ruth Pitter. She helped Orwell in his writing by advising him to give up writing poetry. I’ve only seen one of his poems. Believe me, she did us all a favour. She also helped C S Lewis. I am, as you know, a fan of the Narnia books. Having dipped into his other work I prefer to think of Lewis as the author of the Narnia books. Well, the first six, I find The Last Battle eternally dispiriting and tend to avoid it when rereading the series.

She was also the first woman to win the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and a very interesting person. It’s amazing that after 66 years I am still finding such gaps in my knowledge. I could write more but it would only be regurgitating what is behind the link, so I will leave you to study privately.

Beach Huts – Southwold

Vicissitude, Vocabulary and Victory

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Why is it that I can spell vicissitude, a word I seldom use, but I struggle with accommodation, cemetery and success? I use them all the time, so they should be second nature. They aren’t. I always have to think about them. There are others too, but I can’t call them to mind just now.

When I was 16 and coming up to a couple of years of exams (we needn’t discuss the results – the fact I ended up working on a farm rather than carving out a brilliant academic career is all you need to know) I started to read a dictionary – improving my vocabulary and my spelling. If you were to examine my vocabulary and spelling using modern forensic techniques, you would probably find that they are stronger in words beginning with A to H. There is, frankly, only so much dictionary you can read.

Similarly, at that time, I read a number of Shakespeare’s plays to increase the breadth of my knowledge. They mainly went over my head and passed into oblivion. There is only so much you can take in if you are simply reading something. I now realise that in the absence of a teacher I should have at least bought some notes to help me through the work. The only plays of Shakespeare that I know much about were the ones we studied at school and plus Henry V and Romeo and Juliet. The former is courtesy of Kenneth Branagh and the latter is from my watching of Shakespeare in Love.

When you look at my academic career from this point of view it’s hardly surprising that I ended up failing to shine.

However, now I mention academics, I am reminded that I was going to write a post on politicians and skit notes. I will start that in a minute so I don’t forget.

It’s nearly the 11th November, so the header picture is the 2021 Jersey “Masterpiece Poppy” coin 5 ounces of silver and a poppy made using metal from a Spitfire that flew operational sweeps over the Normandy beaches, army mess tins dated 1945 and a Landing Craft that actually landed tanks on D-Day.

Jersey 2020 Poppy Masterpiece Coin

This is the 2020 version – the poppy medallion is made from metal left after Spitfire PM631 had a major restoration. It was one of the last Spitfires in service (until 1957 with the Meteorological Flight)  and one of the first planes in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The penny gives an idea of scale. It seems to be quite fashionable, and lucrative, to make souvenirs from bits of wartime scrap.

Apologies for the title, I was stretching a bit to obtain alliteration.