In the local studies library at the Dorset History Centre you can find a large collection of journals. These journals are packed with fascinating articles and are often an underused resource. In this new series of blogs we will be highlighting some of the interesting articles within them!
This is the third in our series of blogs looking at the journals held at the Dorset History Centre. In this blog we will be picking out some highlights from those journals published in the 1920’s. In this blog we will be focusing on two journals that start in the 1920’s, The Dorset Regimental Quarterly, and The Plymouth Diocesan Records.
The Plymouth Diocesan Records is the journal of the Plymouth Diocese of the Catholic Church, which covers Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. It is filled with news about the activities of the Church alongside articles about Saints, influential Catholic figures and places in the region. There are also some stories, poems and puzzles.
We enjoyed the translations of the riddles of St Aldhelm, the 7th century saint who was the Bishop of Sherborne. Can you work out the answer to this one?
‘No Part have I in solid earth,
For air and water gave me birth,
And lightly through the air I fly,
And on the water lightly lie.
And many colours meet in me
Most bright and beautiful to see;
But if you try my form to clasp,
At once I vanish in your grasp’
Alongside the stories and poems are useful bits of information such as a Christmas pudding recipe and, rather bizarrely, an article on how to start a zoo. This article contains advice such as
‘The bars for lions should be extremely strong, for if any lion got through it would wrought havoc amongst the keepers and sightseers’ and ‘Polar bears are very expensive, and very hard to keep. They must have ice all through the year to lie on, and ice in the summer is hard to get.’
There is a short children’s section in each journal. In the main these are short articles explaining an aspect of the Catholic religion, although there is a short story written from the point of view of a dog called Bogey. Bogey is sad and miserable because his master has gone away for a six week summer holiday and left him with the Jones who he describes as ‘Good people, but stupid and no idea whatever of a dog’s taste’. He is so sad he stops eating much and gets very bored because the walks that Mrs Jones takes him on are only her shopping trips into town.
On one such visit he decides to go exploring upstairs in a shop but ends up locked in a room and having to escape by jumping out the window, taking Mrs Shop’s nice white curtains with him! Mrs Jones is relieved that he did not hurt himself, but Mrs Shop wants his master to pay for a new pair of curtains. Bogey asks if the reader thinks this is fair. There is a little note at the end saying his master has promised not to go away without him again, which was probably for the best!
At least one reader would have liked to see more activities to share with their family, but the editor did not agree.
Father of family (Exeter) wants to know why the Record does not cater for the children with puzzles, conundrums etc. ‘Some magazines do’ he says. We say ‘some magazines don’t’.
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The Dorset Regimental Quarterly was first published in June 1926. The journal contains news of the various companies of the Dorset Regiment, often presented in an amusing way and including jokes poems and cartoons.
The journal also contains crossword puzzles, articles and photos of the regiment, many taken in the yard next to where the History Centre now stands, which used to be the regiment’s barracks.
One of our favourite articles explains how a regiment of Dorset men ended up wearing kilts. It is told by Mr Bown who enlisted in the 39th Brigade in Weymouth in 1878. The battalion was linked to the 75th Stirlingshire regiment, which was stationed at the Nothe and Mr Bown was attached to this regiment. In 1881, whilst they were in Malta, the regiment, which comprised of mainly Dorset men, discovered that the government had decided that the 75th regiment should merge with the 92nd highland regiment and become the 1st Gordon Highlanders, with their blue trousers with a red stripe replaced by kilts.
Mr Bown recalls that:
‘On the last day of the 75th we had a fine time. At midnight we all paraded in the barracks square, with improvised kilts and blankets and carrying broom sticks.
Our ‘Poet Laureate’, Private Sharpe, rose to the occasion and penned the following lines :-
Here lies the poor old 75th
And under God’s protection
They rise again in Kilt and hose
A glorious resurrection.
For by the transformatory power of parliamentary laws
We go to bed the 75th and rise the ninety-twa’s.’
The soldiers seem to have enjoyed wearing their kilts, but we imagine that some of their families might have got quite a surprise when they returned home in full Highland uniforms!
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This is the third in our series looking at our academic journals. You can read other blogs by clicking on the link below: