Sometimes

 

Sometimes

                 ‘Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits.’

In the evening, after the heat of the day has abated, Herschel trots into the garden and sits on an old wooden chair and gazes at the world. He seems half-asleep, but woe betide any little creature that catches his eye.

As soon as we call ‘Cats, cats, cats!’ he strolls in leisurely fashion along the garden path and then sits on the step outside the open patio door, waiting to be enticed in with ‘Treats?’

Meanwhile, Jellicoe sits on the bridge over the pond and is usually very quick to abandon his post and return indoors. Last evening, however, although he was discussing it with us, he refused to budge until he was offered some freshly cooked chicken and then he was in like a bolt from a gun.

‘Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits’ has been attributed to Winnie-the-Pooh and it suits his personality, but it was not coined by A.A. Milne. 

William Gunning King (1859-1940), the British cartoonist, had a similar caption on a cartoon in Punch on 24th October 1906. The cartoon showed an old countryman and a vicar's wife. She asked him how he passed the time now he couldn't get about and the man replied with, 'Well, mum, sometimes I sits and thinks and then again I just sits.'

‘Punch, or The London Charivari’ was a British magazine of humour and political satire, which was published weekly almost continuously from 1841 to 2002. The Mr Punch puppet from Punch and Judy, was chosen as the magazine’s mascot.

William Gunning King was a painter and illustrator and was described as ‘a vigorous illustrator of rural life.’ He was commissioned to produce a painting to be used as an advertisement for ‘Bibby’s Animal Feed Company’ in Liverpool (now Bibby Agriculture).

Cattle feed advertisement for J. Bibby and Sons

 The company management claimed, ‘Nobody had a better eye for a cow than Gunning King,’ but Gunning King also painted other farm animals and rural farming scenes.

In a period of thirty years, to earn a living, he painted about 300 pictures for Bibby’s, who were one of Gunning King’s many patrons.

In 1905 he began submitting work to Punch. The following cartoon from 11^th November 1914, has the captions:

Cyclist to shopkeeper: “Many recruits gone from this village?”

Shopkeeper to cyclist: “No, Sir.”

Cyclist to shopkeeper: “Oh, why’s that?”

Shopkeeper to cyclist: “Well, Sir, after going carefully into the matter, we, in this neighbourhood, decided to remain absolutely neutral.”

 (That reminded me of the ‘nuclear-free zone’ in London in the 1980s.)

The First World War (The Great War) started on 28^th July 1914 and continued until 11^th November 1918.

E.H. Shepard

 

E.H. Shepard

Illustration from 'Winnie-the-Pooh' by A.A. Milne

Original illustrations were black and white

Ernest Howard Shepard (1879 - 1976) showed a talent for drawing at a young age. He was a friendly boy with a liking for practical jokes and was nicknamed ‘Giddy-Kipper’ by his peers. The name remained with him, in the shortened form of ‘Kip’ for the remainder of his life.

Illustration from 'Winnie-the-Pooh' by A.A. Milne

Original illustrations were black and white

Although he is probably most recognisable as the illustrator of ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ and ‘The Wind in the Willows’, Ernest Shepard produced many cartoons representing war images and political figures for ‘Punch’, the ‘Illustrated London News’ and ‘London Opinion’. 

Only single men under the age of 30 were initially allowed to enlist in the forces in World War I, to his frustration – he was a married man of 35 when war was declared. He was eventually able to enlist and was posted to France as a junior officer.

British propaganda against Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, 17th November, 1923

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

His elder brother was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, July 1^st, 1916. Shepard was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry at Arras and served with distinction in the Italian Campaign. All the while he recorded his experiences through his drawings. 

                 Illustration from 'The King's Breakfast' by A.A. Milne

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

After he was demobilised, he became a staff member of ‘Punch’ magazine and was asked if he would consider illustrating some verses by A.A. Milne. He agreed and the verses were published as ‘When We Were Very Young’ in 1924 and were followed by ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’, ‘Now We Are Six’ and ‘The House at Pooh Corner.’

         Illustration from 'The Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame

                          Original illustrations were black and white

Subsequently, A.A. Milne introduced him to Kenneth Grahame, who had written ‘The Wind in the Willows’ in 1908 but had not found an illustrator he liked for it. Shephard visited Grahame at his home in the Thames Valley, in Pangbourne, and was inspired to create the drawings for the book. They greatly pleased Grahame. 

' . . . there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.'

        Illustration from 'The Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame
                    Original illustrations were black and white

Shepard continued to work as the chief cartoonist for ‘Punch’, covering important events like the Abdication, the outbreak of World War II and the rise of Churchill. In 1953 he was sacked as leading cartoonist from ‘Punch’ by Malcom Muggeridge, who wanted a fresh look for the magazine.

Shepard grew to resent his ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ illustrations because he felt they overshadowed all his other work. He was heard to refer to Pooh as ‘that silly old bear’.

In similar vein, A.A. Milne, disliked the fact that his children’s books were better recognised than his plays and novels and film scripts.

 

28,000

 

28,000

"Thank heavens we've got a navy". 

Less than three months before the start of the First World War, on 28^th July, 1914, the popular perception of Great Britain’s ability to defend itself against invasion was neatly summed up in this ‘Punch’ cartoon by Leonard Raven-Hill (1867-1942)

‘Punch or The London Charivari’ was a weekly British magazine established in 1841. Its content was humorous and satirical. It was published for 150 years, closing in 1992. Four years later it was revived, but finally closed for good in 2002.

Great Britain had no conscription (state-ordered enlistment to a national, usually military service) until 1916, two years after the commencement of war, while all the other belligerents had conscription from the start. Thus, Great Britain was always under strength and had great difficulty replacing casualties. By the end of the war the land force numbered just over 2 million. However, nearly 5½ million served in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in total, of whom around 880,000 perished. Thousands of others suffered life-altering injuries.

The British Army had 28,000 veterinary staff serving in France alone. There were huge animal hospitals to care for sick animals which had often been damaged due to neglect and overwork as much as injury.

Pack mules carrying ammunition

Two million horses, mules and donkeys were used during the First World War In addition to carrying cavalry troops, they moved heavy artillery, transported stores and ammunition and drew ambulances. War dogs were used as messenger dogs and to carry medical supplies and water to injured soldiers in no-man’s land. Pigeons were also used to carry military messages.

The Dog Days of My Life: #3 - Punch

One morning when I was about six I went downstairs to find a liver and white English Springer Spaniel at the foot of the stairs. Punch had arrived by train the previous evening. My sister and brother-in-law had been told of a dog needing a good home and thought of my parents.

Punch was a gentle, friendly dog and became a great favourite with our regular customers. He lay on the doorstep all day, front paws dangling over the edge, and most people stopped to pat him and have a word. At night he settled at the bottom of the stairs and we all learnt to step over him carefully.

Then one day he started to wander. He would begin the day at the shop door in his accustomed manner and then slip away unobtrusively to trot about the neighbourhood with his doggy pals. He stayed away for hours on end, coming home for his evening meal. My parents worried about him having an accident or even causing one. Eventually, one of our customers, knowing of their concern, offered to give him a home. He had a large house and garden in the Kent countryside and Punch would be safe there. My parents liked and trusted this man and knew he had always been very fond of Punch so reluctantly but with some guilty relief they said goodbye to the boy.

It felt strange not to have him around and for many months after Punch had left us we continued to step carefully over – nothing – at the foot of the stairs.

It would be a few years before I lived with a dog again, of which more anon.