Sat Nov 11th
To beautiful village and ancient house in the country, to visit Catholic author Philip Trower, an old friend. The house has been owned by his family for generations, and is a wonderful place, with a Tudor wing where Queen Elizabeth 1 once stayed.....Philip has just moved back after living for many years in Norfolk, and he has a delightful flat in what was once the stable block....we visited the peaceful old church of St James, which has box pews and has no electricity, lit only by candlelight when there are occasional services.....
Back to London for a family supper in Islington. We were meant to meet Jamie's brother and his family to see the Lord Mayor's fireworks by the Thames, but got stuck in traffic. However, we met D, J, and their enchanting daughter, our niece E, in their Islington home for a cheerful family time - E. enthusing that her school, the City of London Girls School, had been part of the Lord Mayor's procession (Jamie led the Guard of Honour one year, when he was commanding some University OTC recruits). E. thrilled with the gift I brought her from America - plastic flask for drinks, with big bendy straw! It was filled with sweets, all with odd names ("tootsie rolls" etc) unfamiliar to us and some looking fairly nasty. But it's all gloriously American and she drank quantities of fruit juice out of it, simply for the novelty of using it.... Jamie's brother D. is a distinguished academic, and in addition to his University work here is always flying off to exciting places to give lectures in various languages.
We made plans for Christmas - I always feel inadequate as I am not very good at domestic things, my mince pies often end up as hard as bullets and I lack imagination when it comes to choosing presents....but I can be useful at entertaining children as I enjoy playing with their toys.
Philip Trower's latest book "The Catholic Church and the Counter-Faith" is just out from Family Publications ( 6a King Street, Jeruicho, Oxon) and looks to be a good read.....
2 comments:
Good to hear about Philip Trower's latest book. Enjoy reading the blog very much.
A thought occurred to me while reading this post and that was the reference to 'Elizabeth 1st'. I realise, of course, that is the standard way of speaking about this lady. However, I've often wondered if, from a Catholic point of view, we have it right. After all, she was the illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII and, by rights, the throne should have passed to the Stuart line after Mary Tudor's death. Just a thought - I accept the historical reality.
The thing that does set me wondering, though, is that her reign only covered England (and Wales?) - it certainly didn't cover Scotland. So is it right to call her '1st'? Of course, our current monarch is styled 'Elizabeth 2nd' because of her earlier namesake, but is this really accurate? We have only ever had one Elizabth as 'Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and other relams and territories', and that is our current gracious sovereign.
As I say, just a thought; wondered if anyone else had had the same thought.
Mr. Trower's Turmoil & Truth, an examination of the roots of our current ecclesial morass, has been on my wish list forever. I think this evening I'll finally get around to hitting "submit order."
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