Eye - 16 June 2023
From Going awry to Collective nouns
Going awry
Over the sea to the island of Skye
There’s a handful of Quakers going awry.
For there’s terrors by heaps
That they reap from the deeps
And it’s fearful what beast they defy.
Alec Davison
On this day
Some things change quite dramatically over time, while others seem to be constant threads joining Friends past and present.
Now, Eye knows that Quaker decision-making structures may not set many spines a-tingling, but when the 16 June 1899 edition dedicated eight pages to the proceedings of Women’s Yearly Meeting, Eye couldn’t resist taking a peek.
The name alone indicates how far Friends have come over time, as Quaker women, despite being prominent throughout our Society’s history, were not given equality in decision-making.
They were not allowed to be representatives to Meeting for Sufferings until 1896.
It was only after many years of petitioning London Yearly Meeting (as Britain Yearly Meeting was known until 1995) that a national Women’s Yearly Meeting was officially recognised in 1784. It ran until 1908 when the two Yearly Meetings merged.
The Meeting was wide-ranging, featuring: epistles from other Yearly Meetings; discernment on the state of the society; and discussion of a number of works being undertaken by Friends, such as involvement in the temperance movement.
One question under consideration may ring a bell for Friends who have attended Yearly Meetings in recent years: ‘How to keep up the interest of our young people in the society’. It appears that some things may unite Yearly Meeting sessions across time more than we might suppose!
A poetical parody
Inspired by A A Milne, Penelope Putz has penned a parody. She told Eye: ‘I was interested in Jonathan Wooding’s article (28 April), showing, inter alia, what a complicated personality George Fox was. Some years ago I wrote a parody on the same theme…’
George Fox was not a nice man,
Had ways which were quite odd,
Sometimes he railed at some
He thought didn’t care for God.
George Fox was not a kind man,
Not when he dealt with James
James was ill, James in clink,
Said “Kiss my toe”, to James
George Fox was not a peace man,
He trashed priests and tipplers too
He knew he was in the right
And said “OK, sue.”
George Fox was not a soft man,
For months in prison bound,
Yet never would he doff his hat
And stoutly stood his ground.
George Fox was a driven man,
Looked neither left nor right,
No humour, comfort, ease, he sought,
But kept his cause in sight.
George Fox was a led man,
To follow Christ his mission,
“There is only Jesus Christ”, said he,
“Who can speak to my condition.”
George Fox was a restless man,
O’er the seas he went,
Barbados, Ireland, Delaware,
Visited, and letters sent.
George Fox was a steadfast man,
His campaign was his life,
He carried on his travels, tho’
Separated from his wife.
George Fox was an illiterate man,
Could read but could not write,
Lit’rate women wrote all down,
Oft jumbled, not quite right.
George Fox was a great man
Many sects flowed in his day.
He knew if ALL claimed “I know God”
Chaos would have its way.
George Fox was a great man,
Meg Fox loved him to bits
The tiers of Meetings which we have
Are products of his wits.
George Fox was a great man,
Many followed George’s way,
They followed where e’re he went
He led us here today.
George Fox was a great man,
Many sects had their day,
But despite Muggletonians,
Quakers are here to stay.
So thanks be to George Fox,
Due to his non wavering way,
Quakers still follow him
And are still here today.
Collective nouns
A quiver of Quakers
Ol Rappaport
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