'Lashings' in the Famous Five Books

[Miss Pepper]

I have done a little research on the use of the word lashings within the famous Five Series of Books and also the book of famous Five short stories.
This list may prove to be a handy reference for future use for anyone who would like to clearly show there has never been a reference to 'lashings of ginger beer' within the twenty one books about the Famous Five.

USE OF THE WORD 'LASHINGS' IN THE ENID BLYTON FAMOUS FIVE BOOKS

1.FIVE HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME
Chapter Three
A PLEASANT MORNING

"Are they poisonous snakes that he has, I wonder?" said Dick. "I don't somehow fancy having a caravan next to ours with lashings of poisonous snakes crawling round."



2.FIVE GO DOWN TO THE SEA

Chapter Two
TREMANNON FARM

‘Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, radishes, mustard and cress, carrot grated up - that is carrot, isn’t it, Mrs Penruthlan?’said Dick. ‘And lashings of hard-boiled eggs.’

3.FIVE HAVE A MYSTERY TO SOLVE
Chapter Two

A VISITOR TO TEA

They were all hungry for their dinner, and not one single morsel was left when they had finished! Cookie had made a tremendous steamed pudding, with lashings of treacle, which was, as usual, a huge success.

[Chrissie777]

there has never been a reference to 'lashings of ginger beer' within the twenty one books about the Famous Five.
USE OF THE WORD 'LASHINGS' IN THE ENID BLYTON FAMOUS FIVE BOOKS

We bought ginger beer in 2008 on our wonderful trip to Dorset. It tastes very good!
I kept the empty bottles and they are now on my Blyton bookcase with other memorabilia from that trip.
Even though there never was a reference to 'lashings of ginger beer', it seems to fit perfectly with the food that the FF ate and the forties in which the first books take place.
I noticed that nobody drank water way back then. It's either lemonade, ginger beer or milk.

[Daisy]

They always seemed to find a 'clear bubbling spring' to supply them with water!

[Chrissie777]

Hi Daisy,

You are right. I totally forgot about the springs, but there seem to be plenty of them.

[lwindrush]

As I child we always loved homemade lemonade made cloudy with the juice of real Lemons, mmmmm.

[pete9012S]

Is the term 'lashings' mentioned in any other book besides the famous Five??

[Wolfgang]

The mystery of Holly Lane, in chapter "Few little plans: ... there were lashings of hot scones...

The woods of adventure, chapter 18: ... ice-cream and lashings of chocolate sauce.

The case of the Sticks and their tricks, chapter Four: ... biscuits and great lashings of ginger beer.

[Moonraker]

The case of the Sticks and their tricks, chapter Four: ... biscuits and great lashings of ginger beer.

In my edition, the only mention to the contents of the tea was, "Nobody noticed what they had for tea."

[Francis]

I wonder where 'lashings' came from - Enid couldn't have invented it - could she?

[Daisy]

"Lashings of ginger beer" came from the parody Five go mad in Dorset. The phrase was never used in any of her books. I don't know how Wolfgang has got it in his book - is it an English version Wolfgang or a German translation? Either way it's been altered from the original.

[Francis]

The Oxford dictionary shows the meaning
Lashings - a copious amount of something, especially food or drink: chocolate cake with lashings of cream

Maybe Enid and the Comic Strip have kept this word in use.

[Wolfgang]

"Lashings of ginger beer" came from the parody Five go mad in Dorset. The phrase was never used in any of her books. I don't know how Wolfgang has got it in his book - is it an English version Wolfgang or a German translation? Either way it's been altered from the original.

"The mystery of Holly Lane", Dragon 1972, first paragraph in chapter "A few little plans".

"The case of the Sticks and their tricks" is the second book of the "Five on the case series" In chapter 4 Gwen quotes from George's diary (second paragraph).

"The Woods of adventure" is the book for TV-film, and in chapter 18 (page 103) Dinah and Lucy-Ann are caught by the boys having a midnight snack.

Five go down to the sea, chapter 2 (Treamon Farm, page 22, Knight book, 26th impression 1987): When Enid describes the High tea that awaits them, Dick sums up the content, and also remarks: "And lashings of hard-boiled eggs."

Five have a wonderful time, chapter 3 (A pleasant morning, page 26, Knight book, 5th impression1972): Dick wonders if there are poisonous snakes. "I don't somehow fancy having a caravannext to ours with lashings of poisonous snakes crawling round.'

[Daisy]

I've never heard of the Sticks and their Tricks. Who wrote it I wonder.

[Wolfgang]

If you scroll a bit down you'll find it on http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/famous-five.php.
In the cave it's the fourth title, but as there are two stories in one book, it's the second book.

[Daisy]

Well that took some finding! Not written by Enid Blyton though, so we can't count any lashings there!