PAGE 23
EDITORIAL
OF THE PELICAN, SUMMER 1966
Author
Unknown
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1966, lent by Mike Byrne
Looking back over a seminary
year as it draws to a close, one is always faced with the greatest difficulty
in making a fair assessment of the accomplishments and progress which the year
has brought.
Not only is so much dependent on the spiritual aspect, which can never be fully
assessed, but there can always be found within the community itself some critics
and even cynics who unconsciously do much to distort the overall picture. But
it would be to the lessening of truth if one were to omit to mention that spirituality
has not been so obviously dominant as it might have been; the same lessening
effect would be realised if one also forgot that occasionally critics have been
rational and constructive.
It is thus hoped that the articles in this edition of The Pelican are written
by rational critics in search of a fair assessment. In this respect gratitude
is due to those contributors, such as Mr Mills of St John's College,
and Brother Bernard Mahon of St Mary's College, Southampton, for providing
objective and "outside" views, one of Priorians at St John's, and
the second more specifically of the prowess of our actors.
Those articles from Danby Hall are taken from the periodical issues of their
own community magazine, "Yure Danby."
The year has seen zest displayed in several fields, although on the whole it
has not been an exceptionally spirited twelve months. Sports and studies have
been attacked with all due fervour, perhaps the latter with over-due fervour,
and the result has been for the most part to our advantage. Enthusiasm was marked
during Retreat at the beginning of year and our debt to the preacher, Father
E Mahoney, during those three days is unforgettable.
Other visitors, in the persons of variously experienced missionaries such as
Father G. Taylor, fresh from Kipalapala, and a Dutch White Father working
in Zambia, Father H. Hinfelaar, kindly served to cal the missionfield
in Africa to mind. Father Walsh, Assistant to the Superior General, paid
us a prolonged visit during which he apparently made provisions for the Priory's
gradual demise; the provisions are outlined by Father Superior in his article
below, Another visitor, a regular one, has been Brother Kelly who for
occasional week-end retreats from his Architectural studies in London has busied
himself at the Priory. His useful hands have presented us with items such as
a new notice board and have assured him an always warm welcome.
Visiting however has not been only a one-way business. Raymond Sweeney fell
seriously sick during the Easter Term, and since his emergency, a danger which
necessitated Extreme Unction, Priorians have frequently visited him in Winchester
Hospital. Gratitude is due to his efforts in hospital which have produced our
magazine cover.
In a different regard, visits were also paid to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
in their local appearances and one group attended a Sadlers Wells performance
of "La Boheme" at Southsea. These were the first outings of such a
cultural nature within the memory of present Priorian `and their appreciable
success apparently assures them of continuation in the future.
Manual work outside the seminary has also played a considerable part in the
past year. Besides the work carried out for some profit in the yard of a local
builder's contractor, work elsewhere described in this magazine, many boys volunteered
their services to work for various people during the two weeks prior to Easter.
In a different kind of way, this work was also for profit. However, the money
earned was put into a collective fund aimed at sending a physically handicapped
boy to Lourdes with the National Handicapped Children's Pilgrimage. The fund
had been initiated from the proceeds of a complicated sweepstake on the results
of the General Election, and finally achieved the £35 necessary to serve
its purpose. For those taking G.C.E.'s this summer charitable social work, similar
to that engaged in last year, is being planned to occupy them during the last
two weeks of term.
So, although with the closing of the year much may be difficult to gauge, an
admirable practical spirit has undoubtedly played its part. Zest may have been
lacking where it is necessary, but it is always easier to note where it amply
exists than where it is perhaps absent. One can certainly hope that Priory zest
will find its way into all aspects of its dubious future. Then we will be able
to thank God even more heartily than we do now for the way in which He has blessed
this past year.
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Does anyone know the whereabout of Brother (now Father) Kelly ? Apparently,
he is now a diocesan priest, but his parish/diocese is not known).
THE
LAST CHAPTER
By Fr John
Fowles, Superior
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1966, lent by Mike Byrne
Among the bits and pieces and general paraphernalia of the Superior's office
at the Priory is a tome, commonly known as the Black Book, in which is
recorded the name of, and various bits of information about, every boy who has
entered the seminary.
The first entry, dated 12th October 1912, is "Germain Aymard,"
from Aveyron in the South of France, who became a Brother in the Society ten
years later. The 970th entry, made on September 3rd, 1965, is that of Norman
Turnbull from Leven, Fife. There is, in fact, space for some three thousand
more entries, but it seems that Norman Turnbull is going to close the list,
for a decision has been taken to discontinue the present form of the Junior
Seminarv system in the British Province.
In July, Danby Hall in Yorkshire, which has housed the first two forms of the
juniorate since the fire at St Columba's, will cease to function as a seminary,
and the boys there at the time will be placed in other schools. The Priory will
continue as a seminary-hostel until 1970 when the present Third Form will be
finishing A levels. Thus all the boys who return to the Priory in September
1966 will be going out to school each day at St. John's College, Southsea.
With the wind of change blowing a pretty stiff breeze across the bows of the
Church, this particular turn of events in the British Province may have seemed
inevitable to some. However, whether this news comes as a surprise or not, there
will be a certain feeling of regret among many former Priorians that what was
the foundation stone of the British Province and what has come to be looked
upon as
veritable institution is soon to become just anothe chapter in the Society.
As we leaf through the pages of the Black Book and see the names of Alfred
Howell (former Provincial), Arthur Hughes (Papal Internuncio to Egypt),
Gerard Scriven, Owen McCoy (Bishop of Oyo), James Siedle (Bishop
of Kigoma) and more than one hundred and forty other Fathers and Brothers who
have given themselves to the service of Africa, we cannot but feel that the
Priory has already playe a significant role in the missionary apostolate of
the Church.
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BISHOP'S
WALTHAM COMES TO ST JOHN'S COLLEGE
By
Mr Ronald Mills
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1966, lent by Mike Byrne
Some years ago, after years on the staff of St. John's College, to my surprise,
since I had always prided myself on getting to know at least the face of every
boy in the school by the time he had reached the top forms, a crop of new faces
began to appear.
This would have aroused no comment were they those of the very young, but obviously
these belonged to young men: some slender, some round, some tough; some looking
firm, adult and more than razor-familiar.
Moreover, a priest, other than the school chaplain, was seen as often as any
regular member of the staff. Masses could be attended at lunch-time and a group
of these mysterious newcomers were observed to stay on for devotions long after
anyone else and with apparent attachment to the Blessed Sacrament unprecedented,
in such a number, in the history of S. John's.
Gradually, we, the uninitiated, upon whom changes at this school seem to materialise
and organically grow rather than be foreknown and anticipated, came to realise
that this was "Bishop's Waltham." Now, by a happy trick of our language,
this metonymous appellation is used by everyone: "Oh, Mac So and So, he
is Bishop's Waltham, isn't he?" or "Have 'Bishop's Waltham' arrived"?
if by accident or design the vehicle peculiar to "Bishop's Waltham"
is late.
Only during the past two years have I come into contact with their interesting
personalities. First, through the arts. For the poetry prize, more interesting
entries, in greater numbers, came in from this group than from the rest of the
school. These poems showed some interesting stresses, conflicts and probings
revealing, in some cases, rich interior lives. Not one of these entries won
the prize but, for the first time, personalities became more than passing figures
The veil which always obscures new people flying suddenly into one's life, began
to lift a little. As time passed, one, leaving all competitors behind won the
public reading prize, another showed prowess in games, another excelled in athletic
events; so the strangeness wore off: here was not an aloof, pious, clique, catapulted
into an alien environment merely for academic convenience, but warm living folk
whose one desire was to integrate and contribute.
What that contribution is, it is difficult to make clear. Psychologically, those
of us labelled "lay" are bound to be influenced by those who have
chosen a service dedicated to God and sacrificed to man. All that this must
mean: discipline of body and mind; often being avoided; celibacy: in being given
to all; suffering, as must be at times, the apartness which every cleric feels.
Coupled with this the deliberate choice of serving, if such be the will of God,
in the most difficult missionary work, exciting perhaps, but dangerous; amongst
people, alien in race, colour and custom and most certainly, materially unrewarding.
It is necessary to mention this "lay" attitude because, whether "Bishop's
Waltham" realises it or not, in assessing their impact on us at St. John's
this a priori knowledge of them, which their very choice indicates, cannot be
excluded.
To return however to the contribution. Generally, their presence has immensely
enriched the school. This is undoubted; they are joyous, they see things fully,
sometimes with sympathy. sometimes with pity; the most abysmal depths to which
some of the fictional characters they study fall, leave them aware, sorry, but
undismayed. Their standards are different. One of them regards King Lear in
his early, autocrafic period as not overwhelmingly powerful and magnificent
but very self-centred and petty. A view which by Christian standards is true
enough, but one seldom heard voiced by hardened, Shakespearean critics. Another
difference, apart from the sartorial one of yellow-badged A-S-A' d blazers,
which occasionally appear because of cleaning exigencies, is the interest they
take in people. School-boys are notorious for being able to assume "dead-pan"
masks or building retreat walls in time of danger. Not these, they wish to know
and be known.
So, rightly or wrongly, these are my own findings of this group who are fated
to have to give loyalty to two establishments at once, to move in two spheres
which they seem to unite successfully. Do they leaven the lump? Does our lump
need leavening? This I will not answer. I will end with this remark. Every member
of the Staff, without one dissident voice, says that the school would be the
poorer if, for any reason, "Bishop's Waltham" has to be withdrawn.
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The seasoned play-goer knows that where school boy dramatics are concerned he
must often make extravagant concessions.
Made callous by repeated exposure, he has grown decreasingly exacting—and
youngsters, moreover, ought not to be unduly discouraged. Such were my benevolent
dispositions as I made my way to the Priory and its rather small roll-call of
pupils to sit in at their rendering of Jean Anouilh's difficult play "The
Lark."
Recollection of other school productions, still wincingly rememberd could not
diminish a magnanimous determination to scrap conventional criteria, and to
subordinate ability to enthusiasm, to equate mere virtuosity with genuine inspiration
and good-naturedly confuse attempt with achievement.
Fairly punctually, the curtains parted to disclose an unusually unostentatious
but singularly effective scenery, designed to assist the performance, not compensate
it. Then, after ten minutes of unhesitating dialogue. the stage lights fused.
In the embarrassed interval one sympathised hugely with the actors plunged in
gloom as they faltered to a halt, one wondered where the bursar stored the fuse-wire,
and one's mind, somewhat prematurely, began the polite hunt for items that might
salvage the performance: scenery, costume, programme design, accommodation,
proximity of heaters etc. Meanwhile, one chatted amiably and exuded affability.
Eventually, visual contact was restored and the play began again from its beginning.
But from that moment there was no going back: one became suddenly involved.
It was compelling drama. Certain features reflecting on the producer were immediately
noticeable: the unobtrusive scenery, whereby attention was never removed from
the action of the play; the felicitous grouping, considering the small space
available. At moments we had the value of two or three scenes simultaneously,
cleverly underscoring that continuum of experience in the heroine, without the
scenes themselves in any way complicating the progression of the plot.
Throughout, the production was bold in its simplicity. One remembers such details
as the dawn ride of Joan and La Hire, the stark reality of the hangman's presence,
the ritual at the stake. This consciously stylised technique prevented much
precarious theatre from falling from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Above all, of course, it was the way the actors interpreted their parts which
made this a performance to remember. Joan, no doubt, had the heavy end of it;
hers was an unhalting performance and her identification with the Joan legend
carried the more easily in that the producer was lucky to secure in this able
youngster a certain provincial diction necessary to the rôle.
Most memorable was the acting of Cauchon in a very moving portrayal of a man
who would save his victim without discrediting his beliefs and principles. Charles,
without sacrificing his "historical" foppishness, gave a more spirited
display and one thereby more interesting than one gets from the average Dauphin.
Indeed, the secret of success for so many of the Priory actors seemed to lie
in the effort made by each character to assert his individuality, rather than
to approximate his acting to some accepted formula. With an indifferent cast
the latter may be the safe expedient, but it prevents that freshness of presentation
and moving sincerity which were distinctive features in a very distinguished
performance.
I liked the production immensely.
(Source: Tony Smyth)
Peter Shorrock as Joan & Tony Smyth as Captain La Hire
THE CAST
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick: Thomas Whyatt
Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais: Richard Parsons
Joan: Peter Shorrock
Her Father: James Gunning
Her Mother: Thomas Hillas
Her Brother: Paul Dalton
The Promoter: Robert Dempsey
The Inquisitor: John Joyce
Brother Ladvenue: Paul Glover
Robert de Beaudricourt, Squire of Vaucouleurs: Philip Mason
Boudousse ... Michael Byrne
Agnes Sorel: Simon Blandford
The Young Queen: Peter de Souza
Charles, the Dauphin: Cedric Pollard
Queen Yolande: Patrick McKinlay
Archbishop of Rheims: Adrian Moran
M. de la Tremouille: Sean Murphy
Page to the Dauphin: John Corrigan
Captain La Hire: Anthony Smyth
Hangman: Michael Byrne
First Soldier: Richard Kinlen
Second Soldier: Michael Cairns
Stage Manager: Donald MacLeod
Prompter: Gerard Davies
Stage assistants, Thomas Quirke, John Brighouse, Raymond Sweeney.
Sound: Nicholas Prior
Producer: Father Garvey
MID-TERM
IN BLUNT'S YARD
By Andrew Murphy, Form V1
Taken from The Pelican - Summer 1966, lent by Mike Byrne
Less than six years could well have convinced me of the maxim—to be a White
Father you must be a jack-of-all trades—but I never before had the occasion
to consider the hardships of a seminarian labouring in the yard of a builder's
contractor.
This exceptional undertaking was suggested to our Superior, Father Fowles,
by the familiar and good-natured Mr Blunt. Such an offer would undoubtedly
have met with little response had not the question of payment balanced the rarity
of vacations and the need to recuperate. But, nevertheless, large numbers deserted
the ranks of the unemployed, commenting enthusiastically on the exonerative
terms of employment.
The inclemency of Saturday morning's weather, despite its benumbing effect on
exposed and more sensitive parts of the anatomy, failed to dampen the animated
spirits of the workers, steadfast in their resolution to prove themselves worthy
of their wage-packet. Throughout the early evening little was heard of working
conditions, but conversation evolved solely and characteristically around the
problem of the day's earnings.
Talk at supper table was depressing: sullen faces expressed the mood of the
evening and the food was turned aside. Determined to free the remaining recreation
from the intermingling of customary holiday gaiety and working-class distress,
the burden of representation was immediately imposed upon the college captain
and an assistant. Shortly afterwards, the delegation, emerging from the cover
of darkness, was overpowered by hordes of expectant Priorians. The facial expressions
of the former, revealing the paradoxical combination of success and failure,
suggested a compromise.
Mr Blunt, though a shrewd and business-like man, decided with a little persuasion
that his capabilities did not yet extend to the out-maneouvring of seminarians,
who, though hired as cheap labour, resolved to draw the line above a slavish
income. On Monday morning, having discarded the Labour Party's motion to strike,
as a solution to Saturday's apparent injustice, the considerably reduced rabble,
selected from the age-group sixteen and above, sallied forth, informed explicitly
of the employment conditions stipulated by our new boss.
Housebuilding was out of the question. We had to satisfy ourselves stacking
heavy crates, pyramid fashion, despite the interior protestations of the foreman.
Work finished promptly at five. Our boss was as good as his word. We received
our twelve shillings respectively and set out on the long trek home, weary but
thankful.