The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: Volume 1: Chronology. Christina Scull

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СКАЧАТЬ opened by W.H. Payton, who lays ‘emphasis on the change between the conditions of several thousand years ago and those of to-day’. Rob Gilson speaks in protest, ‘arguing that the heroes of antiquity had an enormous influence for good on the morals and ideals of today’. Vincent Trought gives his maiden address to the Society, confessing that ‘he could never perform the labours of Hercules’ without ‘the beginning and end of modern heroes’ superiority’: beer (‘Debating Society’, King Edward’s School Chronicle, n.s. 24, no. 178 (December 1909), pp. 95, 96). The motion fails, 8 votes to 16.

      6 November 1909 Ronald plays in a 1st XV away match at Oakham, Leicestershire, against Oakham School. King Edward’s School loses, 13 to 14.

      9 November 1909 Ronald plays in a 1st XV away match at The Reddings, Moseley, against Moseley II. King Edward’s School loses, 0 to 17.

      13 November 1909 Ronald plays in a 1st XV away match at Lifford, against Kings Norton. King Edward’s School loses, 0 to 30.

      19 November 1909 The King Edward’s School Debating Society addresses the motion: ‘That this house deplores the disappearance of the stocks as a form of punishment.’ According to the King Edward’s School Chronicle, ‘J.R.R. Tolkien in a distinctly humorous speech, though somewhat marred by a faulty delivery, advocated the revival of the stocks as an admirable method for the training of the marksmen of this country. It would also benefit the grocers’ trade’ (‘Debating Society’, n.s. 24, no. 178 (December 1909), p. 96). The motion carries, 13 to 12.

      26 November 1909 At a meeting of the Literary Society of King Edward’s School the Reverend E.W. Badger, one of the Masters, reads a paper entitled William Morris, Artist, Craftsman and Poet.

      Near the end of autumn term 1909 Ronald and Edith ride their bicycles to the Lickey Hills on an afternoon excursion. They leave and return separately so that no one will know they are seeing each other. At the end of the afternoon they have tea at the house in Rednal where Ronald had stayed in the summer, but the woman who provides the tea mentions Ronald’s visit to the caretaker at the Oratory retreat, who mentions it to the cook at the Oratory, and so the news reaches Father Francis Morgan. Father Francis is worried that Ronald is not giving his full attention to work towards a university scholarship, and is shaken when further enquiries reveal more about Ronald and Edith’s clandestine meetings. He demands that their relationship cease.

      December 1909 Very soon after this turmoil Ronald goes to Oxford to sit the University scholarship examination, staying in Corpus Christi College. He fails to obtain an award but is young enough to be able to try again next year. He must win an award if he wants to attend the University of Oxford, since his small inheritance from his father’s estate is not enough to pay the fees, nor can Father Francis afford to pay them.

      3 December 1909 The King Edward’s School Debating Society addresses the motion: ‘That the sportsman is a better citizen than the student.’ Rob Gilson recommends the novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes as an exception to the opening statement that the heroes of all school tales were those good at games. R.S. Payton makes his maiden address to the Society, stating that ‘the man with no education but sport was often bigoted and narrow-minded’, and Christopher Wiseman makes ‘reference to the battle of Eton’ and digresses ‘on to the [national] Budget’ (‘Debating Society’, King Edward’s School Chronicle, n.s. 25, no. 179 (March 1910), pp. 5, 6). The motion fails, 12 votes to 15.

      10 December 1909 The Headmaster of King Edward’s School, Robert Cary Gilson, presents a lecture on ‘Memory’ at a meeting of the Literary Society.

      17 December 1909 An Old Boys’ debate is held at King Edward’s School on the motion: ‘That the awakening of the Yellow Races is a menace to the safety of Europe.’ W.H. Payton takes part, arguing that Japan should be considered more important than China, due to its inhabitants’ intense patriotism. The motion passes overwhelmingly, 26 votes to 2.

1910

      1 January 1910 Ronald writes in his earliest surviving diary: ‘Depressed and as much in dark as ever. God help me. Feel weak and weary’ (quoted in Biography, p. 42). His depression is due not only to his disappointment at Oxford, but also to the difficulty of his relationship with Edith. He is torn between his feelings for her and his duty to the guardian to whom he owes so much. Although Father Francis has not specifically ordered Ronald not to see Edith again, his wishes are clear. – During this month he finds new lodgings for Ronald and Hilary with Thomas Macsherry, the director of a whiskey distillery, and his wife Julia at 4 Highfield Road, Edgbaston. Ronald will live at this address until going up to *Oxford in autumn 1911.

      Spring term 1910 At King Edward’s School Ronald gives a lecture to the First Class entitled The Modern Languages of Europe: Derivations and Capabilities. After he takes up three one-hour sessions and still does not finish, the master calls a halt. During the spring and summer terms, there are seventeen pupils in Class I. Hilary Tolkien is now in Class V, Section B4.

      20 January 1910 Ronald feels that he and Edith must discuss what they are to do. They meet without asking Father Francis for permission. They spend part of the day in the countryside discussing plans, but also visit E.H. Lawley & Sons, jewellers, at 24 New Street, Birmingham. Edith buys Ronald a pen for ten shillings and sixpence as a belated birthday present; he spends the same on a wrist watch as a twenty-first birthday present for Edith.

      21 January 1910 Ronald and Edith celebrate her twenty-first birthday by having tea together. But their meeting is seen and reported to Father Francis: he now forbids Ronald to meet or even write to Edith. By now, in fact, she has decided to move to *Cheltenham to live with two elderly family friends, Mr and Mrs C.H. Jessop. Ronald may see her to say goodbye on the day she leaves Birmingham, and then there is to be no contact until he comes of age three years later.

      23 January 1910 At King Edward’s School Ronald takes part in a debate on the motion: ‘That the vulgar are the really happy.’ He argues that there is no reason why this should be true of the vulgar as a class, and the fact that vulgarity and happiness sometimes accompany one another is no proof. Vincent Trought thinks that ‘the man who ate with his mouth too full could never be really happy’, Rob Gilson argues that education is ‘the direct opposite of vulgarity’, and W.H. Payton speaks briefly in the negative (King Edward’s School Chronicle, n.s. 25, no. 179 (March 1910), pp. 7, 8). The motion fails, 10 votes to 17.

      11 February 1910 The King Edward’s School Debating Society addresses the motion: ‘That lawn-tennis is physically and socially a superior game to cricket.’ Christopher Wiseman demonstrates ‘from personal experience of “a friend,” that cricket does not provide sufficient exercise for a young boy’, while Vincent Trought inveighs ‘against those who wished to reject our national pastime and accept a foreign upstart in its stead’ (‘Debating Society’, King Edward’s School Chronicle, n.s. 25, no. 179 (March 1910), pp. 8, 9). The motion passes, 15 votes to 7.

      12 February 1910 Ronald plays in a 1st XV home match against Kings Norton. King Edward’s School wins, 11 to 8.

      15 February 1910 Ronald plays in a 1st XV home match against Birkenhead School, Oxton, Cheshire. King Edward’s School wins, 20 to 0.

      16 February 1910 Ronald writes in his diary that he had prayed that he would see Edith by accident, and his prayer had been answered. ‘Saw her at 12.55 at Prince of Wales [presumably the Prince of Wales Theatre on Broad Street]. СКАЧАТЬ