The Enid Blyton Society

Hi Pete, the job is going well thanks. I've been there for eight months now already!

Hope everything is okay with you as well and everyone on here. Not been on much recently.

Cheers,

Ben

That's great Deej.
Glad you've settled in ok.That eight months seems to have flown over!

I'm off to Wales for a few days at the weekend,but not your part,we're off to stay on a cottage on a 30 acre farm in deepest Carmarthenshire.
I suppose that's classed as mid Wales?

Regards

Pete

ps. so I don't go too far off topic I will endeavour to read a bit of Dickens whilst I'm there!

It sure has, Pete!

I'd say Carmarthenshire is more South West Wales. Hope you enjoy it in the cottage and have a great time.

Best wishes,

Ben

I would have mentioned this before, but my favourite book by Dickens is A Christmas Carol, for the simple reason that I've never managed to get all the way through any of his other books! I must rectify that some day.

In the meantime, with Christmas approaching, I'm now remembering some years ago when the legendary Myer Christmas Windows in Melbourne featured A Christmas Carol as their theme. To explain, Myer is a major chain of department stores in Australia, and their flagship store in central Melbourne has six display windows facing onto Bourke Street Mall, which every Christmas are decorated as dioramas with moving figures, sound and lights. Usually a famous children's story (or, in years when I suspect they've needed the sponsorship money, an upcoming Christmas movie ) is chosen as the theme. (Some I've seen over the years have been Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wind in the Willows, and even The Nutcracker ballet! No Enid Blytons yet, as far as I can remember, but you never know - perhaps one day...)

Anyway, this particular year - early 2000s - it happened to be the 100th anniversary of the Myer stores, and to celebrate, the Christmas Windows had the story of A Christmas Carol, but transplanted to early 20th century Melbourne. So in successive window displays, Scrooge saw Marley's Ghost while riding on a cable tram, the Cratchits lived in the Banana Alley Vaults (a former slum area behind Flinders Street Station), and at the end, after his reformation, Scrooge took Tiny Tim and his family for Christmas dinner at the Windsor, Melbourne's grandest hotel! An odd fusion, but it worked - these were among the best Myer Windows I remember seeing.

Deej wrote:It sure has, Pete!

I'd say Carmarthenshire is more South West Wales. Hope you enjoy it in the cottage and have a great time.

Thanks Ben.
I'll post some pics so Jane can have a 'nose' on the common room forum at the weekend!

Best Wishes

Pete

Hope you enjoy your break, Pete, and I'm glad your job is going well, Deej.

Courtenay, one of Dickens' shorter novels which I've always found gripping and fairly quick to read is A Tale of Two Cities. Parts of it are harrowing, though!

Look forward to seeing them, Pete. Thanks, Anita

Sorry for going off-topic btw.

Courtenay wrote:Probably not, BB - sounds like a bit of clever marketing for those who know their classics! .

Ah! I'm probably being a bit thick. I was thinking that it was a long established business the name of which Dickens copied. The odds are that it is probably the other way round as you suggest. Doh.

Just noticed this post, Burli Bert.

burlingtonbertram wrote: If anyone UK forumites have ever been involved in litigation they will know that the antiquated, Byzantine British legal system creaks slowly yet inexorably on in just the same way at it did during Dickens time.

Actually, there's no such thing as the British legal system. England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney all have their own legal sytems and they're all different. As examples, in Scots Law a successful litigant obtains a decree, whereas in English Law it's a judgment. In Jersey a failed company goes en desastre, In England it goes into liquidation.

The Law does move painfully slow at times, usually when the Government is trying to save money, though there are times when the Law is "an hass", as Mr. Bumble would say.

Dave

That phrase 'What the Dickens do you mean.' Does that refer to Charles Dickens in some way.

ps.
Very learned and informative post that Dave,thanks.
You're not a judge are you? Or a Procurator fiscal???

Pete, I wasn't a judge, or a barrister, or a solicitor, but what they call a paralegal but were originally known as solicitor's managing clerks. I was involved with civil litigation and represented clients in court in matters like debt recovery, mortgage possessions, bankruptcy and winding up of companies.

Dave

Thanks for the background info Dave. My daughter is a legal secretary and absolutely loves it!

Cripes - I better be very careful!
'Machine-gun' Francis Kelly'

pete9012S wrote:That phrase 'What the Dickens do you mean.' Does that refer to Charles Dickens in some way.

Since the phrase "what the dickens" was used by Shakespeare, it obviously pre-dates Charles. I think it's largely considered to be a euphemism for the devil (similar to saying "what the heck" rather than "what the hell").

I found this explanation online, which gives another possible connection:

What is the origin of the expression 'What the dickens'? It seems to be unconnected with Charles Dickens, as it was used by Shakespeare.

ONE explanation is that it is a euphemism for the Devil or Old Nick. This certainly fits with: 'I cannot tell what the dickens his name is' (Merry Wives of Windsor III, ii). Another explanation is that it relates to one Dickins or Dickson, a maker of wooden bowls, who appears to have had a penchant for losing money, for example: 'I was constrained to take half the money they cost mee, gaining by them as Dickins did by his dishes. Who buying them five for twopence solde six for a peny.' (1579, R Galis). Alternatively, Middleton (1599): 'No more is to be got by that than William Dickins got by his wooden dishes'. There are numerous other similar references. Anyway, it lets Charles off the hook.
John Beardshaw, Puckeridge, Herts.

Without looking it up, I would hazard a guess that the greater popularity of "What the Dickens" was as part of that range of mid- late 19th century expressions used to substitute the more robust language of the earlier Georgian and Restoration periods. Similar to "By George" etc.