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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1959-12-31, Page 6Queen Saw Reic.es On Butner's TV It was just before the "off" Of ; a big Mee at, Ascot, Thripst- ing through the crowds that milled round the Tote windows,• a punter slapped 'a pound down and shouted hoarsely: "Ten bob win and place No. 4, mate;"' He grabbed his ticket then reeled back in astonishment as a friendly voice called, "I hope it comes up" , . and the red- faeed r a o e g o e r recognized through the he mesh covering the window the smiling features of Prince Philip! Though he may not have such intense love of racing as the Queen the has been known to arrive at Ascot by State landau and skim away in his Lagonda a Pew minutes later, or to disap- pear unobstrusively towards the polo pitches of Cowdray after the second race at Goodwood), the Prince takes a keen interest in a 11 activities concerning horses. And on that afternoon at Ascot he had slipped "back- stage" at the totalisator to see how the odds are worked out by calculating machine. He is, after all, Vice -President of the British Horse Society, which takes him all over the country attending trials and show jumping. He is a member of the Jockey Club and many kindred organizations. His devo- tion to polo is well known. On one occasion, when pre- sented with an electro -cardio- graph by the City of Cambridge, the Queen said smilingly: "T hope this ingenious machine will be put to good use not many miles from here.' Her audience could hardly have realized her meaning — that Prince Philip would borrow the instrument for a vet to check the heart- beats of his polo ponies! "All too often Prince Philip's failure to share all the Queen's racing pleasures is due to sheer lack of time, to his eager desire to fill his leisure with the glow- ing exercise of physical pursuits, his keenness for active sport rather than a passive role as spectator," writes Mrs. Helen Cathcart in "The Queen And The Turf," the first full, richly illustrated story of Her Majes- ty's triumphs and disappoint- ments as a racehorse owner and racegoer. Some measure of the Queen's enthusiasm for racing can be gauged from the fact that in order to see her colt Gay Time run in the St. Leger she made two successive overnight jour- neys from Balmoral to Doncas- ter and back, a round trip of 836 miles. She probably knows more about the pedigrees and breed- ing records of racehorses than any other woman in the world —knowledge that helped her to be the first British monarch in history to have twice headed the list of winning owners. Her contribution to our blood- stock industry is immense . and there was public resentment when the president of a Metho- dist Conference prefaced his re- marks with: "I wish the Queen would not go racing." Says Helen Cathcart: "The Queen un- derstood his sincerity, however, and later invited him to one of the famous luncheons at Buck- ingham Palace." In different vein, a cleric in the Midlands amused the Queen when he sent her a story of two choir boys, one of whom asked: "What have we sung the Na- tional Anthem for today?" The other shook his head; so the first choir boy added: "I suppose it's because the Queen's horse came home first yesterday." This love of horses stems from her very earliest days—right back to infancy when the Arch- bishop of Canterbury once found the little Princess leading her grandfather, King George V, by the beard, pretending he was a horse as he shuffled along the floor on his hand and knees ! A few years later, the sight at a pony with a docked tail would arouse her indignation. And once, watching from her nursery window the hacks prancing along Rotten Row, she said gravely: "If I am ever Queen I shall make a law that there must be no riding on Sun- days. Horses should have a rest." Her concern is even stronger today. Nothing is too much trou- ble if one of her horses is back- ward or ailing. One, slightly lame, was sent to Seaford be- cause it was thought the sea air and salt water bathing might suit him. Another who develop- ed muscular trouble at the end of his racing career was sent to a specialist in electrical treat - Modern Etiquette By Roberta Lee Q, Would It be proper for a single young man to invite two young women friends to make use of his spare bedroom while '-they are in town? A. The offer is perfectly proper -- but, to still any possible tongue — wagging, he should .ova out while they are there, ROYAL FUN — The sport of queens and princesses seems 80 be equally divided between horses and boats, judging tram this newly released photograph of Queen Elizabeth II and nine-year-old Princess Anne, In riding outfits, mother and daughter relax beside the lake at Frogmore, near Windsor Castle. ment in order to make his re- tirement happier. Nor is it only thoroughbreds that interest the Queen. She was once touring an agricultural show when she recognized a pit pony she had seen two years before, with its leg bandaged where another animal had kick- ed it. She immediately inquired if it had fully recovered. An- other time, as Princess Eliza- beth, watching the royal greys being bedded clown at Windsor, she was amused by the way one of them kept yawning, obviously tired after the Ascot procession. The sight of a yawning horse was too much for the Princess, says Mrs. Cathcart. Convulsed with mirth, she went in search of her family; and soon both Princesses and the King and Queen were rocking with laugh- ter at the grey, who continued to yawn sleepily, In the past there had always been a certain studied formality about the movements of royalty at race meetings. (Queen Vic- toria once declined to attend As- cot because the trainer of the royal colt, Persimmon, could not guarantee it would win the Gold Cup!) But the Queen has chang- ed that. Soon after her Coronation racegoers at Ascot stared in sur- prise at the young woman who leant on the paddock rails and watched the horses unsaddling. Could it be? Yes, it was the Queen! — mingling so informal- ly with other racegoers that many failed to recognize her. Later, at Goodwood, she broke with convention by walking down the course to see for her- self just how the starting gate worked. It worked well, for her own colt Gay Time romped home in the race. Perhaps the best example 01 delightful informality occurred one week -end when the Jubilee Handicap was run at Kempton Park. The Queen and Prince Philip were staying with their friends, Lieut. -Colonel and Mrs. Harold Phillips, in Leicester- shire, and when it started to drizzle with rain Her Majesty suggested it might be fun to see, on television, how her colt Agreement, ran in the big race. Unfortunately the Phillips had no television. But John Kemp, the butler, said he would be honoured if the Queen cared to watch the race on a set in his cottage. "Perhaps it is the only occa- sion, on or off the record, when a Queen has sat cosily in en armchair in a butler's sitting - room watching television," says the author. "The Queen saw Agreement finish eighth, dis- cussed the race with keen en- joyment, and did not forget to thank her butler host" Astrakhan, the Queen's first gift -horse from the Aga Khan: the brilliant but 111- starred Monaveen; the immortal Aureole. who might never have raced but for the Queen's acute Fore- sight; Carozza, t h e "second string" who proved a classic winner; Landau, who loved jam tarts . . , they are but a few of the great-hearted horses and colourful personalities depicted in this vivid story el the Sport of Queens. HRONYCLES 1NGERFARM o As I write it is a white world, which puts me in just the right mood for wishing everyone a Happy Christmas. Whether it will be white or green by the time this column gets into print is something else again. Here's hoping it is still white. Anyway, Christmas is a time for remembering — for enjoying Sew, Wrap, Go ! PRINTED PATTERN 4940 10-18 h Whip up this WRAP 'N' TIE jumper -dress in less than a day i No waist seams, fitting worries, fussy details — just the smartest V -line back and front, slim skirt. Note apron version. Printed Pattern 4940: Misses' Sizes 10, 12, 14, 16, 18. Size 16 takes 2T/s yards 45 -inch fabric. Printed directions on each pattern part, Easier, accurate. Send FIFTY CENTS (500 (stamps cannot, be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern. Please print p)ain- ly S i Z E, NAME, ADDRESS, STYLE NUMBER, Send order to ANNE ADAMS, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St., New Toronto, Ont. not only the present but the past. The present is coloured by memories of other Christmases come and gone. No one looks aheal to what next Christmas will be ... or the next, or the one after that. To look forward would be to court disaster. Ex- cept in retrospect one Christmas at a time is quite enough! Christmas is many things . according to what we make it. It is the climax of weeks of ex- tra work; planning and anticipa- tion; an occasion for getting in touch once again with those to whom we seldom write — but yet never forget. A time of sur- prises, some real, some assumed — for the sake of the children. A time of gratitude for messages of goodwill that come from the most unexpected quarters, Most of all it is a time of rejoicing "Joy to the world, the Lord is come; let all rejoice and sing". And of course it is the most popular time of the year for:a family get-together. The pattern changes a little through the years. Older folk in some in- stances have passed on; the next generation moves up and is re- placed by yet another generation with their babies and school-age youngsters. But it is Christmas — .THIS Christmas — which is at first foremost in most P00 p 1 e's thoughts. We look forward to celebrating the day with tradi- tional feasting and gaiety — even to the cranberry sauce! But once the dinner is over, the Christmas tree stripped of its gaily wrapped gifts; the "Ohs" and "Ahs" and other expressions of appreciation have been ex- changed, then it is, at least for the older folk, there comes a time of quiet reflection. Grand- parents, aunts and uncles, ex- change memories of other days. The young married folk, busy with the dishes, catch an odd word here and there and join in with the conversation. In our case I remember what has been said before — and what, more than likely, will be said again this year. "Mother, are you talk- ing about that awful wet Christ- mas when there ,was a thunder- storm Christmas Eve? We 'had gone to town for last minute shopping 'with the horse and buggy. While we were away Dad and Bob had gone to the bush for a tree. It all had to be left to the last minute because we had been so buy picking chickens for orders. Wewere wet but they were wetter still, trudging .home through.the back lane dragging the tree behind them," Yes, Grandma remembers it all. Remembers too that neither storm nor raiz was ever bad enough tto renally dampen. the Christmas spirit. We didn't cave hydro in those days and the Yule tree was illuminated with small wax candles, lit for awhile and then extinguished, During the depression of the Thirties presents" were insignificant in value according to present day values but the love and under- standing with which they were chosen was never insignificant. And, no matter. what, Christmas traditions were always main- tained, It was years before the homegrown Christmas chicken was replaced by a turkey but the chicken was always just as savoury as any turkey we have had since. The plum pudding was never absent and it was one time when there were plenty of oranges, nuts and candy. Daddy wasn't able to stay in the house very longes there, were always 'chores to do, /Not only that but more than once a motherly cow managed to emulate the Christ- mas spirit and present us with a calf. So, along with the pud- dings and vegetables I had to make room on the old cookstove to heat water for Bossy. Hot water on tap was undreamed of then. A .bath in front of the kitchen fire was a Saturday night ritual. We didn't realize we were living in Hard times so there were few complaints. Christmas came and went and I can't remember any that were not happy, Now that we have reached a life of greater ease we are thankful for the experience of the lean years. Many readers of our genera- tion will have similar memories. Their children, as do ours, will remember that a happy Christ- . mas was something that didn't just happen, ' It had meaning. And yet opportunities are great- er today for enlarging our circle of friends and a letter or cheery card to a friend is more sym- bolic of the Christmas spirit than an unnecessary gift to a person who has practically everything. For that reason I know the mes- sage that I send you is as good as a gift. May you have A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS! What better could I send than a wish for your happiness? Great Composer Likes It Hot One of the biggest "names" in modern music, seventy -seven- year-old composer Igor Stravin- sky, was once offered a salary of $100,000 to write music for Hollywood films. He turned the offer down, But he likes films and always goes to the movies when he wants to relax. To -day this Russian -born gen- ius, now an American citizen, does al] his work in a sound- proofed workroom in which there are two pianos, a table, paintings and drawings by his SALLY'S 550155 "Don't get discouraged, dear Look what it did for me." two friends, 1'ivasso and Cocom- teau, Between his workroom and the living room are two doors. Once the workroom door is shut no one dares to interrupt' his work for which he needs, in Mrs, Stravitskcy's words, "Com- plete quiet and great concentra- tion." Like all great composers, Stra- vinsky worries about little things, He has a horror of draughts, He rarely catches cold, but at rehearsals is always afraid of doing so. Sometimes he has appeared at a rehearsal wearing two sweaters. He is extraordinarily modest about his achievements. In Ven- ice he once said: "I don't create. I just sniff about and discover musical truffles." (Truffles are edible fungi which grows a few inches beneath the surface of .the ground,) "I live neither in the past nor in the future," says Stravinsky. "I am in the present, 1 can't know what to-morroW will bring forth, I can only know what the truth is for me to- day." Reay! Beauty Ud� 41444 t! .47$ Gather a garden of roses for a cloth, spread, scarf — doubly precious, because handmade I One graceful rose square makes a doily; 3, a scarf, 9. a 36 -inch cloth. Do larger cloth, too. Pattern 978: chart, direc- tions for 12 -inch square in string. Send THIRTIY-FIVE CENTS (sfamps cannot be accepted, use postal note for safety) for this pattern .to Laura Wheeler, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St.,, New Toronto, " Ont. Print plainly PATTERN NUMBER, your NAME and ADDRESS. New! New! New! Our- 1960 Laura W,h e e 1 e r Needlecraft Book is ready NOW ! Crammed with exciting, unusual, popular designs to crochet, knit,. sew, embroider, quilt, weave—fash- ions home furnishings, toys, gifts bazaar hits. In the book FREE -3 quilt patterns. Hurry, send 25 cents: for your copy. ISSUE 52 — 1959 SPECIALTY: SEF PORTRAITS - Artist Joan Markson blushed her way through the opening of a one -woman art show In Madrid, Spain. The show featured eight nude self -pe: traits.