Istvan …

As you know I’ve been reading the Patrick Leigh Fermor books – and keep posting snippets as he reminds me of things … relative to today, or in the centuries gone – albeit he wrote his books about eighty years ago … travelling in the 1930s from Amsterdam to Istanbul.  Exquisite language!  Excellent knowledge!

The Broken Road from the
Iron Gates to Mount Athos
Fermor's last book in the tilogy

I’m about to embark on reading the last of his trilogy “The Broken Road … From the Iron Gate to Mount Athos” …

… the Iron Gate (or the Gate of Trajan) is a gorge on the Danube River between Serbia and Romania; … Fermor has a sad story after the building of two hydro-electric power stations requiring the removal of an indigenous and special peoples, who had lived on an island for centuries that is now submerged.

It's tea time and as you can see I have a
steady hand for giving you an idea where
the Iron Gate is to be found!

… while Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in north-eastern Greece: it is governed as an autonomous polity within the Greek Republic - its status is unique, but it is technically part of the EU …

However between my devouring of the first and the second books in the trilogy, I read “Before the Glory Ended” by Ursula Zilinksy … an author I’d never heard of … but her book had returned with me from South Africa, all those 25 years ago.

Greek peninsula of Mount Athos is
shown by the splodge in red!

I was hooked – it’s fascinating and romantic, and covers the 1930s – 1956 (the early years of which Fermor travelled) … (Anschluss 1938 [annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany] to the Hungarian revolt against the Russians in 1956).

Before the Glory Ended by
Ursula Zilinsky

Sadly it’s not cheap … otherwise I’d recommend it – still worth it though … I could write up the cover frontispiece and back cover – which make informative reads … so let me know ... 

“… with the lightest of touches she (Zilinsky) moves her settings from Paris, to Vienna, to Budapest, London and back to Europe …”   perhaps you can see what I’m trying to convey from this sentence …

Stephen 1 of Hungary

So back to the title of the post “Istvan” .. why Istvan? – because the name crops up with both authors … and I’d never heard of it before – yes we’re dealing with Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria … but could these people be the same – a noble house full of romantic heroes – counts, dukes, gallant knights … ?

That got me to looking up “Istvan” … I reached this website … “Behind the Name” … and what did I find … but the Hungarian form of “Stephen”!

Well that surprised me … seeing as I’d just written about “Good King Wenceslas last looked on the Feast of Stephen” … talk about co-incidences.  So all these romantic hero guys were ‘Stephens’!!

Istvan Meszaros - Professor Ermitus University of Sussex
(Hungarian Philosopher)

But the site is interesting … I found a list of ShakespeareCharacters …

Istvan Ferenczy - Hungarian Sculptor
- who walked to Rome to further
his knowledge and art

You never know what you’re going to find as the day starts … but I couldn’t resist telling you about this website – perhaps you’ve come across it …

So my hero ‘Istvan’ … is the romantic “English Stephen” … this was one of those times I’d made a fool of myself …  such is life … but I’d learnt something in the process …

Here’s to each and every Stephen, Steven, Eztebe, Stephanos, Estienne, Stjepan, Estevan, Stefan … et al …

Behind the Name Website ... 

PS let me know re the Zilinksy idea ... I'd quite like to do it - it'll be after the A-Z ... probably summer time ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Ellen Terry and her Iridescent Beetlewing Dress ...

I had already come across the ‘beetlewing costume’ via posts I had written about closing up Kipling’s home – Batemans – particularly the conservation of its contents.

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth -
painting by John Singer Sargent
(1888)

I knew Ellen Terry’s name (1847 – 1928) … but really nothing about her life or the magnificent glistening dress she wore when performing Lady Macbeth.

So when hearing a talk on Ellen at our Social History group … I was enchanted to learn more. 

Terry came from an acting family … and began performing in her childhood … she was one of 11 children … at least five became actors – Kate, her elder sister, was the grandmother of Sir John Gielgud, who along with Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir Ralph Richardson were the trinity of actors dominating the British stage for much of the 20^th century …

'Choosing' - portrait of Ellen
Terry, by George Watts c. 1864

The Terry family gave performances around the country … with Ellen taking parts from the early age of 9 … it seems she never stopped.

An eminent artist, George Watts, painted the two sister’s portraits … and then despite the age difference (46 – 17) – Watts and Terry married: it didn’t last, but the time allowed Terry to meet various luminaries of the time: Browning, Tennyson, Gladstone and Disraeli … which opened new doors and gained her more admirers.

Julia Margaret Cameron's photo of
Ellen Terry, aged 16

While the portraits painted by Watts and the early photographs by the renowned photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron, ensured she became a cult figure for the poets and painters of the later Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic movements, including Oscar Wilde.

Terry lived life to the full … beginning a relationship with a progressive architect-designer, by whom she had two children, Edward William Godwin (1833 – 1886).  Godwin had a particular interest in medieval costume … which led him to design theatrical costumes and scenery for Terry and her performances, even after their affair cooled.

Northampton Guildhall - designed in the
Ruskinian-Gothic style by Godwin

Terry had two further marriages, and other liaisons over her long life … one where she married an American, James Carew, who was 30 years her junior … that lasted only two years.

Two other partnerships developed – not of the romantic kind – for a short while with George Bernard Shaw – they had struck up a friendship and conducted a famous correspondence …. they weren’t so keen when they met!

Henry Irving (1838 - 1905)

The other was with Henry Irving who had worked hard to become a successful actor-manager-theatre director … particularly after his association and subsequent partnership with Ellen.

She remained popular regardless of how much and how often her behaviour defied the strict morality expected by her Victorian audiences … it is unknown whether Terry had a romantic relationship with Irving – who was considered the doyen of English classical theatre, even, in 1895, being the first actor to be knighted.

Much of Ellen Terry’s life has been recorded in art and photography … often wearing gowns designed by Godwin.  The most spectacular, and one which was worn and worn over the years – here and in America – is the Iridescent Beetle Wing costume she wore as Lady Macbeth.

The costume in dire need of repair ... 

The gown was made in crochet using a soft green wool and blue tinsel yarn from Bohemia to create an effect similar to chain mail.

Part of the portrait by John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent on seeing Terry in her performance in 1888 was compelled to paint her portrait, hence we have a detailed image to refer to.  It is in the Tate Gallery – where it had been donated in 1906; there is a contemporaneous photograph of Ellen Terry wearing the dress in the National Portrait Gallery.

Beetle wings

The costume was embroidered with gold and decorated with over a thousand of those sparkly wings from the green jewel beetle.  By the way the beetles shed their wings naturally – thank goodness for that clarification!

The Bejewlled Beetle

I found that the Victoria and Albert Museum have an article on Ellen Terry, the actress, her designer and her costumes … well worth a read.

Henry Irving watching a rehearsal -
illustration c. 1893

Irving died in 1905 leaving Terry distraught however she returned to the theatre in 1906.  She continued to perform, appeared in her first film in 1916, travelled back and forth to America, toured Australasia … while also lecturing on the Shakespearean heroines. 

She continued to participate in the theatrical world, though after WW1 withdrew more and more … she was recognised by society and appointed a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire – only the second actress to be so honoured.

Smallhythe Place

Terry, in 1899, had bought Smallhythe Place, near Tenterden on the Kent/Sussex border – which she first saw with Henry Irving.  Terry’s daughter, Edith Craig, opened the house in 1929 as a memorial to her mother. 

A walk through the gardens at Smallhythe

It is now owned by the National Trust who maintain the many personal and theatrical mementos, the house, garden and the Barn Theatre in the grounds … where the tradition of putting on a Shakespearean play every year on the anniversary of Ellen Terry’s death (21 July) has been maintained.

The Barn Theatre

That costume, transforming the beautiful red-haired actress into a cross between a jewelled serpent and a medieval knight, was the talk of the town in 1888 after the first night … and was, after one hundred years (with all the wear and tear of tours, behind the scenes change of costumes, and packing crates), desperately in need of a touch of conservation.

Ellen Terry c 1880 - aged 33

This Guardian article explains that the repairs proved as muchcostume archaeology as needlework … it was restored to its present glory by a specialist textile conservator, Zenzie Tinker – whom I had across as the expert used by Batemans, in Rudyard Kipling’s, home.

I so enjoyed learning about Ellen Terry, which led me to look at theatre in the 1800s, actors and actresses, society, art and literary works, epistolary collections, textile conservation … and then the history of it all, ending with Smallhythe Place – which I have never visited … definitely something I need to correct.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

ABCs of Shakespeare – snippets, unravelled again, pond pudding ...

Now onto some Shakespeare snippets that have interested or amused me recently ... sadly I've been tempted to go the ABC route ... much more fun to draft up and allows me to let my mind wander!

A procession of Shakespeare's characters by an unknown
19th C artist 

Shakespeare Theatre on the River Avon in Stratford

A is for Avon ...  Shakespeare’s Avon runs through Stratford, joining the River Severn on its way to Bristol.

Copy of Mandela' s notation - note today the
16th December is a public holiday
and in South Africa is
called The Day of Reconciliation

B is for “Bardolatry” … 400 years of it … Mandela kept a copy of ‘The Complete Works of Shakespeare’,  smuggled between two Diwali cards, into his cell … it was richly annotated at the time of his release … the historic text became a source of strength for Mandela and his fellow inmates during their darkest days … per CNN article ... 

Coast of Bohemia ... was there one - but in Fermor's "A Time of Gifts" (see post 28 July 2016) - on page 308 ... he established that a Coast of Bohemia did exist - even if only for 13 years! 

Miguel de Cervantes

C is for Cervantes – Every great novel began with this genius: “The Man Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World” ... the author of Don Quixote was the driving force behind the rise of the novel.  Shakespeare wrote poetic drama.   Cervantes died on 22 April 1616, the day before Shakespeare …

Don Quixote by
Honore Daumier (1868)

Cervantes is forgotten on this quixotic birthday … obscured by Shakespeare, but is an essential reference for anyone who wants to know about novel writing, Spanish culture and literature.

D is for Duck … Mallard Duck as roasted in Shakespeare’s day … is actually what many of us eat now if we have duck … “To Boyle A Mallard with Onions” from the Shakespeare Cookbook …

Roses in our Sceptred Isle

E is for English countryside … immortalised by Shakespeare as his ‘Sceptred Isle’.  

At the beginning of Henry V where Shakespeare notes companion planting and the need to keep some weeds to ensure the bees, butterflies and others’ have food to grub for, and a place to build a home:

“The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,

And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best

Neighbour’d by fruit of baser quality …’

Where the Boar's Head Tavern used to be

F is for Falstaff … and his ‘home’ The Boar’s Head Tavern in Eastcheap, London  - the comic character, who betrays many opposites when it suits him, and the occasion … a personification of the vitality which is bread and wine … his coarseness softened by Shakespeare in the telling …

The Boar's Head remembered

The British Library has an exhibition on Shakespeare’s London - until 6th September.

Gatton Park, Millennium Stones
with lounging sheep

G is for Gatton Park, Surrey – in which the 10 Millennium Stones stand: these stones were sculpted by Richard Kindersley to mark the double millennium from AD1 to AD2000.  The first stone in the series is inscribed with the words from St John’s Gospel “In the Beginning the Word was …”.  The megalithic portal is the best link I could find.

 The subsequent nine stones are carved with quotations contemporary with each 200 year segment … William Shakespeare’s quotation from Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3 is found on Stone 7:

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and miseries

On such a full sea as we are now afloat;

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or we lose our ventures.”

H is for Hermione  - did JK Rowling get inspiration from Shakespeare for Harry Potter’s Hermione? 

Making Ipocras in medieval times

I is for Ipocras - a spiced wine of note in the 1500 – 1600s … I wrote about it in my Y is for Ypocras post in the A-Z of my cookery series in 2013 – whereby the 14^th century recipe says “Passee your wyne throu a Socke nine tymes untilled clear” … see the post …

For an historical take with more details on the spices used - see The Historical Food site

J is for Ben Johnson, the poet and dramatist, who predicted that Shakespeare, his friend and rival dramatist, would be held in as high regard as one of the great writers of antiquity.

Knit Knot tree - Yarn Bombing according
to Wiki

K is for Knit and Knot …

I mean, that my heart unto yours is knit,

So that but one heart we can make of it;

      A Midsummer Night’s Dream

To hold you in perpetual amity,

To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts

With an unslipping knot, take Antony

Octavia to his wife: whose beauty claims

No worse a husband than the best of men.

      Antony and Cleopatra

L is for Language … see this Guardian article:  Ten ways in which Shakespeare Changed the World

Britain in the 15^th and 16^th centuries saw the spread of English as the vernacular language, rather than Latin, that laid the foundation for the richly expressive literary tradition we now know.

This was when the King James Version of the Bible was transcribed between 1604 -1611, becoming recognised as the Authorised Version of the Bible.

You've got the play:
 The Tempest at the Minnack Theatre
in Cornwall

M is for movies ...  you might not have realised are based on Shakespeare - there are plenty of these but my link has gone AWOL ...  (who knew … certainly not me! #8 yes!)

1        The Lion King (Based on Hamlet)

2      She’s the Man (based on Twelfth Night)

3      10 Things I Hate About You (based on The Taming of the Shrew)

4      Warm Bodies (based on Romeo and Juliet)

5      Forbidden Planet (based on The Tempest)

6      Get Over It (based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

7       O (based on Othello)

8      Kiss Me Kate (based on The Taming of the Shrew)

9      My Own Private Idaho (based on Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V)

10 A Thousand Acres (based on King Lear)

A model as to how
NonSuch House might
have looked

N is for NonSuch House on London Bridge, that thriving centre of commerce, along with over 100 shops, houses, stalls … it is apparently the earliest documented prefabricated building – from the Netherlands.  The name Nonsuch may have referred to Henry VIII’s, now vanished, Nonsuch Palace outside London … please see Wiki.

Othello played by Russian actor
Konstantin Stanislavsky in 1896

O is for Othello … here via link from A Cuban in London blog is the link to the Guardian’s Six Shakespeare Solos to watch …

Hamlet: ‘To be or not to be’ (Adrian Lester, 2m 58secs)

Romeo and Juliet: ‘The mask of night is on my face’ (Joanna Vanderham, 1m 30secs)

King Lear: ‘Blow, Winds, and crack your cheeks’ (Roger Allam, 1m 53secs)

Othello: ‘I do think it is their husband's faults …’ (Eileen Atkins, 1m 11secs)

Richard III:  ‘Now is the Winter of our Discontent…’ (David Morrissey, 2m 42secs)

A Midsummer’s Night Dream: ‘These are the Forgeries of Jealousy …’   (Ayesha Dharker, 1m 59secs)

The photo I used for my previous
Pond Pudding recipe

P is for Pond Pudding and Farts of Portingale … the Pond Pudding described in the Shakespeare Cookbook is like a Sussex Pond Pudding … a steamed suet pudding with dried fruit in a well of butter inside the pud.  Again my version as described in my P forPond Pudding in the Cookery Series for our 2013 A-Z posts.

Now Farts of Portingale – I had to put in … didn’t I?!  Portingale to clarify refers to Portugal … the ‘Farts’ – well … no description is given except for ‘Fists’ … which are bigger than ‘Farts’ …

These be small
Farts of Portingale!

… at this point there can be sweet farts, or savoury ones … to be more specific … they are like rissoles, or small balls fried or poached: lamb, with mace, salt, chopped fruits, bread-crumbs and an egg … or some sweet recipe.

Q is for Shakespeare and our Queen, who celebrated her 90^th birthday this year: 400 years does not look so long does it?  Shakespeare had to adapt after Queen Bess died and James succeeded her …

Rosemary in bloom

R is for Rosemary … “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.”  Spoken by a grief-stricken Ophelia in ‘Hamlet’ …

S is for Second Best Bed … the playwright’s bequest of that bed to his widow was not a slight but an affectionate addition to his will – his first best bed was for his death.

A google image ... showing some of the
changed names: Titus Andronicus and King Lear
are usually Westminster entrances;
Macbeth is Embankment; while James I is
Waterloo

T is to Tube or not to Tube, That is the Question … see Ian Visits (blog - link below) where he advises that ‘tis Nobler in the mind to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageous Travel disruptions, or take Arms against a Sea of commuters” …

… then tells us about how the Underground has renamed each station and area with a Shakespeare theme (plays and characters) … very clever: please pop over (Ian Visits blog) …

Amazon Link

U is for Shakespeare Unravelled … the book recently published by Michael and Pauline Black … was Shakespeare real or were the plays written by others and put together into a folio?  Regardless of your thoughts – this book gives a good historical coverage of Shakespearean England … I have put a review up on Amazon for it.

V is for Verjuice, Vinegars, Vegetables … Charles Estienne in 1550 writes that vinegar is the corruption of wines whether made from grapes, fruit or grains … which was developed rather for use in flavouring or to excite the palate or appetite: use sparingly …

Some information gleaned from this book

Verjuice is the acid juice of unripe grapes or crabbe apples … the ease of having a lemon in the kitchen has driven ‘verjuice’ from our cupboards.  Add some garlic, or dill, or fennel flowers to give a different flavour to your verjuice.

Vegetables … the few known were included into meals (spring vegetables), not served separately as we would do today, or made into a sauce and used that way;    Sorrel sauce, Spinach tart or pie … spinach was a novelty in Shakespeare’s England … having finally from Roman times made its way across the Channel.

W is for Wine … which was imported, hence expensive; grapes did not grow wild, and cultivated grapes were far too valuable to be picked before they were ripe.  The usual drink was ale, cider, and meads from various sources.

see Bloomsbury link

X is for Tang Xianzu's China … 1616 also saw the death of the famous Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu.  Four hundred years on and Shakespeare is now an important meeting place for Anglo-Chinese cultural dialogue in the field of drama studies.  For more please read here c/o Bloomsbury … 

Y is for Yarn … from All’s Well That Ends Well:

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn,

Good and ill together;

Our virtues would be proud if our faults whipped them not;

And our crimes would despair if they were not cherished by our own virtues.

Giving insights into Shaka Zulu

Z is for Zulu Cosmology … the Anthony Sher production of The Tempest shown in 2009 at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town … the easiest is toread The Telegraph article – it’s a wonderful convocation of Shakespeare in an African setting … sets my heart a-wander – wish I’d seen it …

                                      

Sir Anthony, as he is now, was born in Cape Town, came to the UK in 1968 … again there is a telling piece on his Wiki page about how he felt the need to hide his identity on many fronts … South African, Lithuanian-Jewish, sexuality … how succinctly put that para is when read with the Telegraph article:

An insight into South African life … acting breaks, mimicking to hide his past and present … do take a moment to quickly check both links ... 

The 7 Ages of Man - sculpture by
Richard Kindersley, who sculpted
the statues in Gatton Park above.
This is in Queen Victoria Street.

That is my ABCs on Shakespeare … some snippets, some quotes, some ideas … and ‘All the World’s a Stage’  from As you Like It… how The Globe went global with Hamlet: 293 performances, 189 countries, 202 venues, estimated audience: 157,000, the miles travelled: 190,000 …

The tour commenced on the anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, 450 years ago [23rd April 2014] and finished on the anniversary of his death four hundred years ago: 23rd April 2016.

… actors worked nine weeks, had three weeks off … one Horatio was Nigerian, one Ophelia came from Hong Kong, one Hamlet came from Jamaica …

… a dog came on stage in Tuvalu … it sat and watched; they played to Syrian refugees in Jordan; played as the first mixed-sex group in Saudi Arabia; and only one country refused to participate – guess where … North Korea.

A copy of the First Folio

Shakespeare is so many things … and is known throughout the world – plays  or films in Japanese, Indian, Chinese …. Just take your children, yourself! and your family along to see a play, or two or three … so many threads will be available to think about and remember for future years … everyone will benefit.

Google's Doodle on Shakespeare's settings

We are so fortunate to live in our western world, yet it’s so brilliant that we can join forces with storytellers everywhere … and learn from other cultures.

You will have comments and ideas to add … and in the ‘wheels of this post’ I hope that I’ve added a little to your idea of Shakespeare’s times and his words …   I’ve put in the links for referral - to enjoy as and when you can.

More about the Hamlet world tour project mentioned towards the end of the post:  About the Project: Globe to Globe   (see here for where in 1608 the play was performed ... you will be astonished ....)

Once again 'tis long ... sorreeeee ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories