Tuesday 9 April 2013

Every dog has his day.

Or in this particular case 'her day'.    The death of Mrs Thatcher yesterday brought to a complete end the Thatcher era, although her 'reign' had been over for some years.   Love her or hate her (and there were plenty in both camps) I don't think there was a person in the whole country who had not been affected one way or the other by her policies.

But her end came - as it does to us all sooner or later - after years of extreme fragility.   None of us know how our lives will end and it seems reading today's papers (blanket coverage as you would expect) that her final years were not altogether happy ones.

When anyone famous dies I always think of the phrase 'every dog has his day' and I had no idea where it came from, so decided to spend a few minutes this morning looking it up.  If you know the following then ignore the next paragraph!

It comes from the book 'Lavengro' by George Borrow, who lived from 1803 to 1881.  The complete quotation reads:  'Youth will be served, every dog has his day, and mine has been a fine one.'  Borrow was a bit of a maverick figure it seems, travelling through many countries and studying their languages, although it also seems that he did tend to embroider the truth, so we don't really know where he did go.   He finally married a well to do widow and settled in Oulton Broad in Suffolk.   'Lavengro' is a book which mixes fact and fiction - he called it ' a dream, partly of study, partly of adventure' - seems he was a mystery fellow and he suffered from bouts of manic depression.   But this phrase above all others seems to have stood the test of time and is a perfect one I think to describe Mrs. Thatcher's life.

I expect there will be blanket coverage in blogland too of Mrs Thatcher's life and times, so enough said.

Our book launch went very well last night.   There were thirty people there and we sold a good number of books - the proceeds are for the Air Ambulance services in the area.  We held the launch in Wensley Village Hall, where there was a super buffet supper and it was a jolly evening.   The book is available by post for £6 if anyone is interested in buying one.
 

7 comments:

Reader Wil said...

Thanks for your visit! Yes, mrs Thatcher! My British friends didn't like her, to put it mildly. There was a stronger Britain during her reign, which is very good, but more homeless and very poor people.

mrsnesbitt said...

My father worshipped Margaret Thatcher I thought of him a great deal yesterday...with a wry smile! I have been disgusted at some of the reactions covered in the News. At the end of the day a family has lost a mother.

Heather said...

Mrs Thatcher certainly brings out very strong reactions from all quarters. I didn't agree with all her policies but she was the closest thing to a real statesman that this country has had for ages.
Glad the fund raising evening went so well. To whom should cheques be made payable if we want to buy a copy of the book?

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

It has been interesting to listen to the strong opinions about her from all quarters.

MorningAJ said...

I'm avoiding the subject of Mrs Thatcher. I'll be glad when all the discussion (on both sides) is over.

Elizabeth said...

Missed the discussion of toys from yesterday.
I have a feeling that young open minds will play with EVERYTHING -- electronic, natural, mechanical etc etc.
We certainly had far fewer toys than the next generations --but I don't think we missed anything.
I'm happy to say that the tinies love being outdoors and their best toy is the plain wood bricks (blocks here) that they can add farm animals etc to.
Congratulations on your wonderful book.
I'm afraid my father admired M. Thatcher (he was otherwise such a nice man.....) She certainly was a giant of a figure.
Hope your weather improves soon!

The Weaver of Grass said...

In answer to Heather - to Wensleydale Writers - it would be lovely if you bought a copy Heather.
Interesting to hear opinions about Mrs Thatcher - I was not a fan but I do think that her death is not something to be celebrated - what is done is done and she was a great stateswoman like or hate. We all have to die and it does seem, reading about her retirement years that they were not the happiest of times. Thanks for visiting.