Ruth Muttlebury of the Plymouth Proprietory Library has contacted us with a research enquiry about the Devon author Mary Patricia Willcocks, and about local authors in general.
Ruth writes:
At present I am the President of Plymouth Proprietary Library (Plymouth's oldest library founded in 1810) and have been going through the shelves to ascertain some local authors - well known or otherwise. I came across some books by Mary Patricia Willcocks which are quite fantastic - her last was written not long before she died in the 1950s - and they are gems. Scouring the website for more information on her, I found a note in an Ivybridge journal, fairly recent I think, by a Mr Bob Mann who seemed like me, enthralled with her work and had done some research.
So, I'm looking to contact anyone with a knowledge of her work and of course that of other local authors. If you or anyone you know can assist I'd be very grateful. I'm keen to preserve as much literary history in the area as possible!
If you can help, contact our site maintainer (webmaster@devonhistorysociety.org.uk) and we'll forward any replies.
- RG
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Maurice Drake's last work
A window in Topsham is the last work of the respected Exeter glass-painter Maurice Drake.
Maurice Drake (1875-1923) was a respected scholar and glass-painter of the early 20th century, who is well-known on the antiquarian circuit for his restorations and original work on ecclesiastical glass. He worked with his brother, Wilfred Drake, from the family business at the Three Gables, Cathedral Yard, Exeter, and co--wrote two standard works on glass-painting, A History Of English Glass-Painting (1912) and Saints And Their Emblems (1916). But it's little known that Maurice Drake was also a poet, a keen sailor, and a writer of maritime adventure novels. His last glass work, a window in the riverside house Furlong in Topsham, brings together many of these aspects of his life.
I'd been researching an article on Drake's novels, and ran into a reference to a window he made, in the last months of his life, for H Wilson Holman, then living at Furlong. Pursuing this, I asked the current owner of the house, Mr David Martin, who extremely kindly let me photograph it and lent me some related documents.
The window comprises a mix of architectural and floral decorative panels, with images of ships in the old Holman fleet, and a poem by Drake in the top three lights.
The poem, alluding to Omar Khayyám being reputedly born into a family of tentmakers, is an elegy to the past sailmakers, as well as the shipbuilders and ships of the old Holman fleet, in particular reference to Furlong being a sail loft converted to residential use. It's also a general comment on impermanence: "
Sincere thanks to David Martin for providing access to the window and documents, and for his permission to publish them online.
See Maurice Drake and WO2 for an account of Drake's novels.
- RG Read more ...
Maurice Drake (1875-1923) was a respected scholar and glass-painter of the early 20th century, who is well-known on the antiquarian circuit for his restorations and original work on ecclesiastical glass. He worked with his brother, Wilfred Drake, from the family business at the Three Gables, Cathedral Yard, Exeter, and co--wrote two standard works on glass-painting, A History Of English Glass-Painting (1912) and Saints And Their Emblems (1916). But it's little known that Maurice Drake was also a poet, a keen sailor, and a writer of maritime adventure novels. His last glass work, a window in the riverside house Furlong in Topsham, brings together many of these aspects of his life.
I'd been researching an article on Drake's novels, and ran into a reference to a window he made, in the last months of his life, for H Wilson Holman, then living at Furlong. Pursuing this, I asked the current owner of the house, Mr David Martin, who extremely kindly let me photograph it and lent me some related documents.
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The window comprises a mix of architectural and floral decorative panels, with images of ships in the old Holman fleet, and a poem by Drake in the top three lights.
Transcription:
Here ere you came, we plied Old Omar's trade
With palm and needle on the daylong seams
The sails we made the Ocean winds have frayed
And we are nought but dreams.
Lighter than filmy clouds or that faint breath
Which stirs the petal on the moon-lit grass.
Our toil is done and now we rest in death.
Tout lasse, tout passe, tout casse.
Beneath our lisping planes the shavings flew;
Sweet smelling pine, like golden pennants gay.
Under our hands the graceful tall ships grew;
Where lie their keels today?
Rocks, winds and ocean, all have taken toll,
Leaving but painted shadows on this glass:
Over our handiwork, the tall seas roll,
Tout lasse, tout passe, tout casse.
But whilst Old Omar stitched he sang a strain,
And though his tents are dust, his song lives yet
Tis from dead earth the dead rose blooms again,
What is there to regret?
We worked, we rest; our heritage is Thine:
Give us a thought and pledge us in the glass
Living your own hour with laughter and with wine.
Tout lasse, tout passe, tout casse.
Maurice Drake
The poem, alluding to Omar Khayyám being reputedly born into a family of tentmakers, is an elegy to the past sailmakers, as well as the shipbuilders and ships of the old Holman fleet, in particular reference to Furlong being a sail loft converted to residential use. It's also a general comment on impermanence: "
I'm doing it in large panes of glass after the Dutch manner of the XVII century, and on actual glass of the period. Six cinque-cento frames, contain pictures of ships from the little photo you gave me of the old Holman fleet, and behind the frames trails of rambler roses sprawl all over the window, with butterflies of every conceivable English variety flopping about on 'em or perched on the picture frame. At the bottom of the right hand light is the memorial inscription "Messor ad Aratores". It's inconspicuous, but can be seen by them as likes to look for it. At the top are three verses, a copy of which I enclose. Sidney Dark, now editor of "John o' London's Weekly", being much intrigued with the them, proposes to reprint them in his paper, he says. Whether he will or not deponent knoweth not, but can certify he said so.The window differs in some respects from Drake's description; I don't know if it has been restored, or he ended up doing it differently from the plan. At the time of the work, Drake must have been seriously ill. In both the above letter to Holman and a succeeding one dated 25th January 1923, he refers to unspecified recurring illness ("wake-ups of the old trouble"). While he makes light of it, and was in the process of having a new studio built early in 1923, the verses have an elegiac flavour, and he died of pneumonia only a few months after the window's completion. It's as much a memorial to himself as to the other craftsmen it remembers.
Monk I han't done yet. Can't get a good coloured picture of a capuchin, but am still searching for one. I think he can go into one of the tracery openings, hanging on a briar of the roses, with an inscription to the effect that he "broke his chain" on the date of his demise.
Not knowing the names of the ships in the Holman fleet, I am leaving a little blank space anigh each on which we can scratch the names with a diamond after the window is fixed. You can doubtless identify them from the photo, or get them identified.
- Maurice Drake, from letter to HW Holman, 22 Nov 1922 (original lent by David Martin)
Sincere thanks to David Martin for providing access to the window and documents, and for his permission to publish them online.
See Maurice Drake and WO2 for an account of Drake's novels.
- RG Read more ...
Greenaway House: May events
The National Trust has sent us details of its May events at Greenway House, the Devon holiday home of Agatha Christie, which will include a series of after-hours 'Twilight Tours'.
From the flyer:
Twilight Tours
3, 10, 17, 24, 31 May 2012, 6pm – 8pm, Greenway House.
"Take the chance to see Greenway House after hours, in a twilight glow. Enjoy canapés in the House Kitchen followed by a fascinating guided tour of the House accompanied by some of our extraordinarily knowledgeable volunteers. Discover the secrets of the Greenway that Agatha Christie knew and loved, and get a feel for yourself of the house she described as 'the loveliest place in the world'."
£15 per person. Booking essential: please call 01803 842382
Costume conservation club
08/05/2012, 10.30am – 4.30pm, Greenway House.
"Join Shelly Tobin, Costume Curator, for an insight into costume in the fabulous setting of Greenway! Come along to Greenway for a day devoted to costume. Beginning with a talk by costume expert Shelly Tobin, followed by a delicious lunch in the House Kitchen, and finished with a tour of Greenway House. During this tour you will get to see Greenway's costume collection, and learn how the items were used."
Booking essential: £17.50 per person. Please call 01803 842382 for details and to book.
Greenway is on the east side of the Dart estuary, near Galmpton, 4.5 miles from Paignton. See the NT page for details.
- RG Read more ...
From the flyer:
Twilight Tours
3, 10, 17, 24, 31 May 2012, 6pm – 8pm, Greenway House.
"Take the chance to see Greenway House after hours, in a twilight glow. Enjoy canapés in the House Kitchen followed by a fascinating guided tour of the House accompanied by some of our extraordinarily knowledgeable volunteers. Discover the secrets of the Greenway that Agatha Christie knew and loved, and get a feel for yourself of the house she described as 'the loveliest place in the world'."
£15 per person. Booking essential: please call 01803 842382
Costume conservation club
08/05/2012, 10.30am – 4.30pm, Greenway House.
"Join Shelly Tobin, Costume Curator, for an insight into costume in the fabulous setting of Greenway! Come along to Greenway for a day devoted to costume. Beginning with a talk by costume expert Shelly Tobin, followed by a delicious lunch in the House Kitchen, and finished with a tour of Greenway House. During this tour you will get to see Greenway's costume collection, and learn how the items were used."
Booking essential: £17.50 per person. Please call 01803 842382 for details and to book.
Greenway is on the east side of the Dart estuary, near Galmpton, 4.5 miles from Paignton. See the NT page for details.
- RG Read more ...
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