friday feast: upper crust picnic

~ jama


Anthony Andrews as Lord Sebastian Flyte, Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder, and Aloysius

I’m simply over the moon that you could join me today, the last Poetry Friday of the July-August Teddy Bear and Friends Picnic. It’s the perfect time to salute Aloysius, the bear who appeared in the 1981 BBC television series, Brideshead Revisited, based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh.

As I mentioned in this post, seeing Aloysius prompted me to start collecting bears. I think it was the first time I realized that many adults still have their childhood teddies, and it’s absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!

Waugh based Aloysius on Archibald Ormsby-Gore (Archie), the real-life bear of poet, writer, and broadcaster, Sir John Betjeman, a friend at Oxford. Betjeman (tutored by C.S. Lewis), took Archie along to Oxford in the 1920’s, and died with him in his arms in 1984.

Archie has been described as being decidedly Protestant or Baptist, with strict moral codes, opposed to drinking and smoking. It’s a good thing somebear was of a responsible ilk, since Betjeman, apparently, was somewhat of a bounder.

The bear used in the series belonged to famous British teddy bear enthusiast and actor, Peter Bull, who initially named him Delicatessen. Seems Delicatessen spent his first 50 years on a grocery store shelf in Maine before its owner sent him to Bull for safekeeping. So the famous bear who starred in this very British series was an American, a 1907 Ideal Novelty & Toy Co. bear, to be precise, who changed his name to Aloysius, garnered international fame, and now resides in a museum near Oxford.

All this talk of England makes me want to watch the series, one of my all-time favorites, once again. I remember visiting Oxford in the late 70’s; the dreamy spires were magnificent, and just breathing the air made me feel smarter. In the world of Brideshead Revisited, the idle rich seem unhappily thwarted by Catholic guilt, and there is Aloysius, a symbol of Lord Sebastian Flyte’s refusal to grow up.

In the opening scene, Sebastian invites Charles Ryder to lunch in his rooms at Christ Church College (YouTube version here). There is lots of champagne, plover eggs in a mossy nest, and lobster thermidor. At one point, one of Sebastian’s guests, Anthony Blanche, recites from T.S.Eliot’s The Waste Land (thought to be shocking at the time) through a megaphone. This is based on a true incident enacted by future art critic Harold Acton, who wished to “excite rage in the hearts of Philistines.”

Exploring hands encounter no defence;
His vanity requires no response,
And makes a welcome of indifference.
(And I Tiresias have foresuffered all
Enacted on this same divan or bed;
I who have sat by Thebes below the wall
And walked among the lowest of the dead.)

*Fans self*

Today, let’s celebrate innocence in the midst of decadence. Just for you, I’m pulling out all the stops — lobster rolls, champagne, and John Betjeman’s poem about his beloved Archie.


Here’s to poetry, friends, good health and good writing!


Doesn’t this look scrumptious? Great recipe here.

Nothing left to do now, but close your eyes and think of England. Pip pip!

(Sorry, my plover wouldn’t lay for me.)

 

ARCHIBALD
by John Betjeman

The bear that sits above my bed
A doleful bear he is to see;
From out his drooping pear-shaped head
His woollen eyes look into me.
He has no mouth, but seems to say:
‘They’ll burn you on the Judgement Day.’

Those woollen eyes, the things they’ve seen
Those flannel ears, the things they’ve heard —
Among horse-chestnut fans of green,
The fluting of an April bird,
And quarrelling downstairs until
Doors slammed at Thirty One West Hill.

(Rest is here, scroll down for poem.)


Let’s hear it for teddies!!        

Bearly believable Poetry Friday Roundup can be found at Big A little a.

**Bonus video: Sebastian and Charles here, with great shots of Aloysius. How wonderful to drift down the river with a picnic lunch and champagne!

Lobster Roll photo posted in accordance with Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

29 thoughts on “friday feast: upper crust picnic”

  1. TadMack says: 🙂
    My sister adored this series as well. The scenery, and the bears are gorgeous, whether you appreciate Evelyn Waugh or not.

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  2. My childhood Winnie-the-Pooh is smiling down on me from a high shelf in my office where he sits with other bears and assorted stuffed animals that have entered my life since those innocent years!

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  5. Hear! Hear! I like the things you celebrate.
    Jules, 7-Imp, who has no old childhood bear left 😦

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  7. How wonderful that you have your childhood Pooh! I got mine when I was in high school from my brother for Christmas. He sort of needs a makeover. Loved your post about visiting Poohsticks Bridge!

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  9. I know. The one in the photo looks good, but lacks the New England hot dog bun — the ultimate bun of all buns. Can you get them in New Jersey? We don’t have them in Virginia.

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  13. I have several old stuffed animals, all much more despicable-looking than Aloysius due to hair loss and sometimes eye loss. But shabbiness doesn’t matter, according to the Skin Horse. 😉
    Aloysius looks plump in some pictures, skinny in others. Can it be that bears go through the weight-loss weight-gain cycle too?

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  14. I really enjoyed my brief visit to Oxford, as well — which happened, interestingly enough, on July 4th (1995).
    Anthony Andrews is my favorite English actor…well, aside from Alan Rickman 😉

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  15. I imagine that bears may go through weight loss/gain cycles, too — since they mirror their owners’ psyches. Paddington and Pooh seem to be the exceptions, however — always plump due to hunny and marmalade.

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  20. My Bear
    My bear looks suspiciously like the one in the new movie. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him for a while. Perhaps he has gone off to make his name on the silver screen.

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  21. Re: My Bear
    When he’s rich and famous, I hope he at least sends you a post card, or some expensive, imported jam or honey. Better purchase a cravat, if you want to hang out with the likes of him ;)!

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  22. My most beloved was a stuffed elephant named Coco, but, alas, he is long lost.
    And now, I’m dying for a lobster roll. Poetry, champagne and great food — you never disappoint, Jama!

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  24. Love this! Every once in a while I wonder if I should remove the stuffed animals (including my mom-made, velvet purple dragon D’Artagnan who helped get me through high school) from the giant bowl in my dining room… nah.
    I’m adding the BBC Brideshead series to my interlibrary loan queue!

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  25. OK, first you make me laugh with lines such as, “Archie has been described as being decidedly Protestant or Baptist, with strict moral codes, opposed to drinking and smoking.” and, “who changed his name to Aloysius, garnered international fame, and now resides in a museum near Oxford.”
    Then you introduce me to the only instance I’ve ever seen of a guy thinking his teddy bear is condemning him to hell. Methinks that guy had some “issues.” 🙂

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  27. So happy to hear you’re going to watch the series. I think it’s time, maybe, that I PURCHASE it!
    Of course, you should always keep D’Artagnan. Imagine his heartbreak should you ever decide to dispose of him!

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  28. Human-bear relationships are very complex sometimes. The description of Archie came from Peter Bull, who knew Betjeman, and who even received letters from Archie. Archie seems to have been Betjeman’s conscience — he heard all of Betjeman’s secrets, and had seen him through all his ups and downs. Betjeman was supposedly a person who lived life to the fullest, and there was Archie trying to rein him in.
    Bears are much cheaper than therapists!
    In the poem, Betjeman refers to the time he hid Archie from his father (at around age 9), because he wanted to prove his manliness. Obviously this was short-lived.

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  29. Oh heavens, I would never get rid of him! Just maybe move him from the dining room. We had some neighbors over for dinner the other week, and they were asking about him. I was a little embarrassed, but hey. That’s who I am!

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