Eye - 10 February 2012
From Ely to Swarthmore
Universal Chorus at Ely
Quaker Tapestry manager Bridget Guest and Roy Wilcock recently got some timely publicity for their CD Universal Chorus.
BBC Television East Anglia paid a visit to Ely Cathedral to cover the opening of the 2012 Quaker Tapestry Roadshow in the Lady Chapel.
As part of their television coverage they filmed Bridget and Roy singing a song from the CD. The song is inspired by a quotation on the Quaker botanists’ panel, by Sarah Martha Baker (1887-1917):
The Universe is always singing
And man must learn to listen.
Hear with cheerful heart,
And join the universal chorus.
The adventurers of mankind,
Ever seeking, ever probing
To push the boundaries out and question why.
This thirsting and this yearning,
Ever schooling, ever learning
The all-embracing tapestry of life.
©Bridget Guest & Roy Wilcock
The CD and other Quaker Tapestry items can be purchased at the Ely Roadshow until 29 February. See also www.quaker-tapestry.co.uk
Swarthmore lecture
Our friend Jez Smith once spent many hours in the Friend engaged, among a host of other responsibilities, in checking copy. He was famous for having a bit of ‘a sharp eye’. The big lad has lost none of his edge.
In the edition last week we stated, in the news section, that Rachel Brett has been chosen to deliver the Swarthmore Lecture in 2012. The report said that it was the one hundred and fifth lecture. Wrong. Even though the first lecture was given in 1908!
Jez reveals an intriguing reason for the discrepancy. He writes: ‘This year’s Swarthmore Lecture will be the one hundred and fourth, not the one hundred and fifth. Although annual since 1908, the 1948 lecture by Edmond Privat was disowned before being delivered. It was then given as a talk “The clash of loyalities” and was later published.’
For those who wish to discover (or rediscover) past Swarthmore Lectures, and to see contemporary reviews of them, check out Jez’s blog at www.nayler.org
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Quaker comics
QUAKER testimonies as a subject of comic postcards might seem unlikely but Michael Wright of Middlesbrough Meeting has come up with the card opposite. Michael writes of the card, which was posted from Mold, Flintshire, in August 1938: ‘It features a Quaker addressing a workman on the evils of alcohol.’ Perhaps cartoonists should try their hand at other Quaker testimonies?
