Eye - 10 February 2023

From Name spotting to Free notepaper with the Friend!

Name spotting

Eye got a thrill when a message appeared in the mailbag from someone who appeared in January’s ‘On this day’ article, which dipped into the Friend’s 1950 archive.

What caught Eye’s attention was this entry: ‘Four young members of the First-Day School at Blackburn, Peter and David Leather, Beryl Strack and Elizabeth Murray, have sent £2 15s to the F.S.C. [Friends Service Council], the result of carolling at Christmas.’

David Leather was handed the magazine after a friend spied his name! He writes: ‘I’m pleased to say that I (and my wife Midge in Ilkley) and my younger brother Peter Leather (with wife Joyce in Somerset) are still very much alive and also Elizabeth Murray, now Liz Simblet in Shrewsbury.

‘I have only hazy memories of the carol singing seventy-two years ago, which was no doubt conducted by an adult, but £2 15s was a considerable amount in those days and there were obviously some generous contributions. I hope Blackburn Meeting is still thriving.’

Quaker tales

Eye has dipped into some tales from Beth Allen, of Bromley Meeting, and pulled out one that offers a child’s-eye view of attending Meeting for Worship for the first time.

She begins: ‘I wasn’t present at this Bristol Meeting but the story was told by a reliable witness.

‘One Sunday, one of the regular Meeting families took along a friend of their ten-year-old son, but forgot to explain what usually happened.

‘He went in and sat quietly with everyone else. After fifteen minutes the adult Friend who was taking the Children’s Meeting stood up and beckoned to the children to come out as usual.

‘The father of the family whispered to the visiting boy, “You go out now.”

‘He stood up and replied in a normal voice, “What does everyone else do?”

‘The father whispered, “They stay here.” “Poor buggers,” said the boy loudly and left the room.’

Eye wonders if any Friends had what they might feel were ‘unQuakerly’ reactions to their first Meeting? Or had any other surprises as they got to know Quaker ways?

Ticklish compositions continued

Are you toying with penning your own limerick? Would a challenge help set you on your way?
Roy Payne, of Polegate Meeting, tells Eye about the joy of ‘finding a place, the pronunciation of which, differs from the spelling. Although the last line dates this, a good example is:

An elderly Friend from Milngavie*
Ecumenical trends did deny.
Cried this latter-day Knox,
“We must get back to Fox,
And withdraw from the CCBI!”’

* Eye is reliably informed by The Scots Magazine that this is pronounced ‘Mull-guy’.

Free notepaper with the Friend!

Eye’s mailbag was visited by ‘Annon-a-mouse’ recently, who proffered this furry-nosed offering to help readers make the most of their weekly delivery: ‘Take heed dear Friends to open the envelope that your Friend arrives in carefully.

‘First, gently open the top flap with the Friend written on it. Gently lift it along its stuck-down edge. Second, gently lift each of the two sides of the top flap upwards. The envelope is now open. Remove your Friend carefully as sometimes it’s been caught in the sticky of the bottom-flap sides.

‘Third, gently open down the two bottom-flap sides, and end up with one big sheet of paper.

‘Next tear carefully down the two folds which removes the front top and bottom flaps. Put them to one side.

‘Fold the A4-ish sheet in half length-wise. Make a good crease in it, then tear down this crease. You now have four long pieces. Fold each in half and tear them down the folds.

‘Now you have eight notelet sheets for making notes before you recycle them in the paper waste recycling box. Some might be a bit sticky from their first life as the big envelope, but still useful for shopping list o don’t forget notes.’

How else can we make use of our weekly wrapper, Friends?

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