Post by tintin on Aug 6, 2012 15:37:07 GMT 1
This book was given to me as a Christmas present more years ago than I would like to say.
Written in I think 1905, my copy is a fourth edition from 1907, Miss Badsworth MFH has a plot worthy of opera.
Hugo Badsworth is an unmarried man of middle age who lives in the country and devotes himself to his estate and is a very keen MFH.
His sister, Miss Lavinia Badsworth, is an unmarried middle aged lady who devotes herself to progressive causes, such as the Emancipation of women.
In Chapter 1, which until this year I have never got beyond or been able to finish, they are having a rather tedious argument about gender equality. One of those where both sides talk past each other. They reach an impasse where she insists she could do his work, and he insists she could n’t. He storms off.
There we leave them and the book moves to Cornwall where Jack, who is the sort of hero, and a neighbour of the Badsworth’s is on holiday. He is looking for sport and is recommended to a local pack of Harriers by the landlord of the inn where he is staying. This part of the book is rather good, if you like hunting. All the hunting in the book ranges from quite to very good – it is a pity there is so little of it. There he is amazed to find that the Master of the Harriers is Mr Badsworth’s younger brother and his daughter, Miss Lavinia Badsworth, is the huntsman.
“Miss Lavvy” as she is, to our modern ears, unfortunately known, is the sort of young lady who everyone falls in love with. (I longed to read “Miss Lavvy was flushed”, but he missed that one). She has an admirer, a cousin, Victor, who is a useless drunk, but who wants to marry her.
Jack and Lavvy fall in love in one of those Edwardian romances, which I find irritating, where the lady wins his heart be being (ever so politely) a bit of a cow to him.
Hugo dies in the hunting field and we find that in anger following his row he has remade his will! Miss Badsworth must run the estate for a year, and hunt the hounds for a month, to get anything otherwise all goes to the useless Victor!
All is consternation until we find that the will is poorly drafted! He has not specified which Miss Lavinia Badsworth shall hunt. Cue “Miss Lavvy” to save the day! (She has to dress as a man though and cut her hair short)
Victor is furious and embarks on a two track policy – undermine the hunt and contest the will!
Eyre Hussey is a cleverly annoying writer on the “woman question” as he manages to appear to be on both sides and neither, which was probably an advantage when the book was written. Miss Lavvy runs the hunt well, but is sick of it by the end of November. Any decision is avoided on the will, as a later will is found in a fortuitous “secret compartment” in a desk. All is left to the younger brother.
Possibly a shocking novel when written much of the drama has been taken away by the two world wars and subsequent events. We have had a Woman Chief Constable of Lancashire so MFH is pretty small beer. A woman butchering an animal carcass has little shock value after Ilse Koch and Belsen. This leaves us with quite a slight story with some good hunting scenes.
In some ways 1905 is quite modern – the sift of applications for a post of estate secretary for example (the quality of job applications remains depressingly similar in 2012 people still do not read what is actually required) – and in others – the delight of a dairy man in being given a dead badger, which he will turn into a treasured waistcoat – utterly different to today.
One bit did make me smile- the young officers who sabotage the hunt with a fake trail because they want BETTER sport, ie more galloping.
Some good bits, but heavy going. No good at all for those who don’t like hunting and quite hard work for those that do. I would n’t buy it.
Written in I think 1905, my copy is a fourth edition from 1907, Miss Badsworth MFH has a plot worthy of opera.
Hugo Badsworth is an unmarried man of middle age who lives in the country and devotes himself to his estate and is a very keen MFH.
His sister, Miss Lavinia Badsworth, is an unmarried middle aged lady who devotes herself to progressive causes, such as the Emancipation of women.
In Chapter 1, which until this year I have never got beyond or been able to finish, they are having a rather tedious argument about gender equality. One of those where both sides talk past each other. They reach an impasse where she insists she could do his work, and he insists she could n’t. He storms off.
There we leave them and the book moves to Cornwall where Jack, who is the sort of hero, and a neighbour of the Badsworth’s is on holiday. He is looking for sport and is recommended to a local pack of Harriers by the landlord of the inn where he is staying. This part of the book is rather good, if you like hunting. All the hunting in the book ranges from quite to very good – it is a pity there is so little of it. There he is amazed to find that the Master of the Harriers is Mr Badsworth’s younger brother and his daughter, Miss Lavinia Badsworth, is the huntsman.
“Miss Lavvy” as she is, to our modern ears, unfortunately known, is the sort of young lady who everyone falls in love with. (I longed to read “Miss Lavvy was flushed”, but he missed that one). She has an admirer, a cousin, Victor, who is a useless drunk, but who wants to marry her.
Jack and Lavvy fall in love in one of those Edwardian romances, which I find irritating, where the lady wins his heart be being (ever so politely) a bit of a cow to him.
Hugo dies in the hunting field and we find that in anger following his row he has remade his will! Miss Badsworth must run the estate for a year, and hunt the hounds for a month, to get anything otherwise all goes to the useless Victor!
All is consternation until we find that the will is poorly drafted! He has not specified which Miss Lavinia Badsworth shall hunt. Cue “Miss Lavvy” to save the day! (She has to dress as a man though and cut her hair short)
Victor is furious and embarks on a two track policy – undermine the hunt and contest the will!
Eyre Hussey is a cleverly annoying writer on the “woman question” as he manages to appear to be on both sides and neither, which was probably an advantage when the book was written. Miss Lavvy runs the hunt well, but is sick of it by the end of November. Any decision is avoided on the will, as a later will is found in a fortuitous “secret compartment” in a desk. All is left to the younger brother.
Possibly a shocking novel when written much of the drama has been taken away by the two world wars and subsequent events. We have had a Woman Chief Constable of Lancashire so MFH is pretty small beer. A woman butchering an animal carcass has little shock value after Ilse Koch and Belsen. This leaves us with quite a slight story with some good hunting scenes.
In some ways 1905 is quite modern – the sift of applications for a post of estate secretary for example (the quality of job applications remains depressingly similar in 2012 people still do not read what is actually required) – and in others – the delight of a dairy man in being given a dead badger, which he will turn into a treasured waistcoat – utterly different to today.
One bit did make me smile- the young officers who sabotage the hunt with a fake trail because they want BETTER sport, ie more galloping.
Some good bits, but heavy going. No good at all for those who don’t like hunting and quite hard work for those that do. I would n’t buy it.