Tales From Blankney - The Prince And The Prankster

During the period when Henry Chaplin was at Blankney Hall, the second half of the nineteenth century, a regular guest at his house parties was Queen Victoria's son Edward, Prince of Wales and later to become King Edward VII. They became great friends whilst at Oxford and remained so throughout their lives. Our tale centres around one such visit, as described by his daughter, the Marchioness of Londonderry in her book 'Henry Chaplin A Memoir'.

A story is told of how on one occasion, when King Edward, as Prince of Wales, was visiting Blankney, Mr. Chaplin's small son Eric was in his room while he was dressing for dinner. On the dressing-table stood a bowl of Indian corn from which he was in the habit of feeding the pigeons from his window. After his father had gone down to dinner, the small boy had the brilliant idea of spreading a layer of corn between the lower sheet and the blanket on the formers bed. When the exhausted host of a large house party retired at a late hour, sleep was found to be impossible from a pricking discomfort beneath him. Investigation followed and it was not until a housemaid had been roused and the bed remade that the long suffering parent obtained his rest. When the children came down according to custom the next morning while the guests were at breakfast, the story was told with some humour by the victim. The Prince delighted by a practical joke very much after his own heart, gave the boy a sovereign, with the promise of another should it be repeated!

Maxine's World

Brainteaser

In this teaser you have been given two definitions. Each pair of definitions is for two unrelated words. Your task is to discover what these two words are. In the answer to the second word, I took the first word, but changed one of its letters to make a completely different word (i.e table - fable).

01 An instrument used to measure time - an outer garment.
02 An instrument used in woodworking for smoothing wood - a shallow dish used for eating food.
03 A deep basin used to hold liquids or food - to utter a loud prolonged cry.
04 A position of authority - a group of singers.

Can you work out the pairings?

The Bear Necessities Of Life

10 Facts about Polar Bears

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01 The polar bear is the largest land carnivore and has a reputation as the only animal that actually hunts humans.

02 They have a life span of up to 25 years.

03 They are the largest species of bear.

04 Polar bears have large, furry feet that act as snow shoes.

05 Their creamy-white fur is dense and water repellent, enabling them to shake dry after swimming.

06 Polar bears are found throughout the circumpolar Arctic, south to Canada.

07 They are the most northerly distributed species of bear.

08 They spend most of their time on Arctic ice floes. When they are on the shore they remain near water.

09 They mainly feed on ringed seal, and less so on bearded seals. In addition, they eat beluga, narwhal, walrus, fish and seabirds. In summer they eat berries and other vegetation.

10 Polar bears mate between March and June and give birth to 1-3 cubs (very rarely four) from November to January.

And Here Are The Latest News Headlines

Another Competition I Didn't Win

(Click image to enlarge)

Many, many years ago, there used to be a columnist in the Daily Mirror newspaper called Donald Zec. I believe he is still alive today and in his nineties. In 1969 he ran a competition 'Win A Happy Christmas', and I, as an aspiring young writer, submitted an entry. First prize was a colour TV plus £250 cash prize and there were further prizes of 100 magnificent Christmas hampers. These may look modest prizes now, but believe me in 1969 they seemed tremendous. Unfortunately, I did not win a prize, which meant I did not come in the first one hundred and one best entries, and no doubt, reading my entry again now, I didn't come in the first one thousand and one either. All that said, I have reproduced the entry below. The task was to tell the Daily Mirror, and Donald Zec, in not more than 250 words, why you thought Britain was best. Apparently, Donald Zec had written in his column earlier that week 'A country which can invent the mini-skirt and Marks and Spencer must have the edge on the world'. Perhaps writing it today he would have nominated greedy bankers and Woolworth's! It appears his article struck a chord with readers as thousands wrote in saying there was no place like home. Incidentally, according to a scribbled note on the fading photo-copy of the entry, it was forwarded in the 12 o'clock post, Mon. 8th December 1969. Now, how's that for efficient filing (go on admit your impressed). Pity Donald Zec was not impressed, if he had been we would have had a lot better Christmas. Here is the entry.

Irish mock, a Scottish loch, a valley set in Wales
London town, a country down, the rugged Yorkshire dales
A dewy morn, a field of corn waves to summer rain
A song thrush sings, midst butterfly wings, down a country lane
An English rose, a book of prose,a well made pot of tea
Church bells ringing, choir boys singing, a spreading chestnut tree
Christmas sonnets, Easter bonnets, also in addition
Pancake day, the Queen of May, are part of our tradition
Seaside trips with fish and chips, not forgetting Bingo
Noisy bits of record hits from John, Paul, George and Ringo
Bowler hats, pants with spats, a pint of English beer
A stately home through which to roam, a stroll down Brighton pier
Ena Sharples, Ernie Marples, then there's Frankie Howard
Sandie Shaw, Bobby Moore and also Noel Coward
A cockney smile, the golden mile, bagpipes in the Glen
Squatters, hippies. London clippies, the sound of old Big Ben
Mini skirts, Carnaby shirts, all help to set the scene
In a land that's proud to stand behind a gracious Queen
Free to choose to win or lose, I shall not hesitate
To shout aloud, that I am proud, "This Britain's really Great."

How many of those memories from the 'swinging sixties' can you recall?