After Arwen

Storm Arwen came through yesterday- a white lady on a white horse- with the Nazgul at her heels. My daughter sent us a pic of the grandkids playing in the snow. Snow in Leicestershire as early as November? That's not normal.

Here- as is so often the case- we got off fairly lightly. It was cold, it was blowy, there was sleet. The oaks let go of a lot of the leaves they've been clinging onto.

But this morning I got up from the breakfast table and a shadow danced ahead of me- cast by the sun as it came squinting through an eastern window. The sky is cloudless. Some time later I need to wrap up and go see if the trees in the field have sustained any damage.

Shoutout To Dave

Hi Dave, is this something you could use?

Eliaphelet Oram Lyte

You lead a life of public service, you go through a war and pick up an honourable wound, you publish a number of books in your chosen field- and what are you remembered for? For being the first person to put a popular, four line jingle into print.

Sometimes Fate or Fame or whatever allegorical female is responsible for this sort of outcome seems to be having a bit of a laugh.

I'm talking about Eliaphelet Oram Lyte (1842-1913) a Pennsylvania school teacher (headmaster, even) who wrote a book in 1882 which included the definitive version of "Row, row, row your boat". He almost certainly didn't write the words because they had appeared earlier- in the 1850s, but he may have written the tune- and a very pretty tune it is too- especially if sung as a round.

Eliaphelet. I wonder if his friends called him "Jumbo"...

And if you think, as I do, that there's something a bit esoteric about the song you might be tickled to learn that- according to his obit- he was a 33rd degree freemason, according to the Scottish Rite.

Which would have entitled him to wear a white hat- or even a purple one if appointed to the supreme council...