Read Straight on Till Morning Online
Authors: Mary S. Lovell
Straight on Till Morning (51 page)
Even Beryl could not fight this killer of the aged, and in the early hours of 3 August she slipped quietly from life. She had been unconscious for most of the previous day and did not speak to anyone.
On 4 September 1986, the fiftieth anniversary of the famous flight across the Atlantic, a Thanksgiving Service for Beryl's life was held at St Clement Danes Church in London. Unlike the day â fifty years earlier â when Beryl had lifted her little Vega Gull into glowering clouds and fitful stormy rain, this was a golden September day full of blue sky and autumn colours. The sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows of the lovely Wren church, catching the massed white chrysanthemums which held knots of ribbons in Beryl's racing colours.
A packed congregation of friends from every sphere of life in which Beryl had been involved â racing, aviation and literature, from Kenya, America and all corners of the British Isles â heard Beryl's friend George Bathurst Norman read an eloquent tribute to the woman he had recognized as unique even as a small boy, being taught by her to play cards in her house at Naro Moru.
âAround Beryl,' he said, âlife was never dull. Like a comet passing through the firmament she lit up all around her. None who came into contact with her could fail to recognize the genius of a truly remarkable person. I like to think that the place where she now is, is a happier and more interesting place because of her presenceâ¦Kwaheri, Beryl; God bless you and God speed.'
Published works by Beryl Markham
West with the Night | 1942 Houghton Mifflin (USA) |
 | 1943 Harrap & Co Ltd (UK) |
West with the Night | 1983 North Point Press (USA) |
 | 1984 Virago Press Ltd (UK) |
Â
Short stories published in the USA:
âThe Captain and his Horse'
(first published August 1943,
Ladies' Home Journal
)
âSomething I Remember'
(first published 29 January 1944,
Collier's Magazine
)
âYour Heart Will Tell You'
(first published January 1944,
Ladies' Home Journal
)
âAppointment in Khartoum'
(first published 22 April 1944,
Collier's Magazine
)
âThe Splendid Outcast'
(first published 2 September 1944,
Saturday Evening Post
)
âBrothers are the Same'
(first published 24 February 1945,
Collier's Magazine
)
âThe Transformation'
(first published January 1946,
Ladies' Home Journal
)
âThe Quitter'
(first published June 1946,
Cosmopolitan
)
Â
Note: Beryl Markham's short stories have now been compiled into an anthology for publication in 1987 under the title
The Splendid Outcast
, by Century Hutchinson (UK) and North Point Press (USA).
CLASSIC WINNERS TRAINED BY BERYL MARKHAM
Note: Beryl's best season was 1963/64 when she achieved a total of forty-six winners (including the above classics). This represented a major number of winners at every meeting held during that year in Kenya.
NOTES
Unless otherwise stated interviews were conducted by the author.
CHAPTER 1
1
Correspondence with Secretary of Old Reptonian Society.
2
Archive Records, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.
3
Private correspondence between the author and Colonel Ward, Regimental Secretary, King's Own Scottish Borderers.
4
Details extracted from the âLast Will and Testament of Richard Henry Clutterbuck who died on 29th June 1891 at Durran Hill, Carlisle'.
5
ibid., and information supplied by Mr Nigel Clutterbuck, Salisbury, September 1986.
6
Private correspondence between the author and Colonel Ward, Regimental Secretary, King's Own Scottish Borderers.
7
English Fox Hunting
, Raymond Carr, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976.
8
Mrs Frankie Iceley, in private correspondence with the author, recalled that even in old age Clara's voice retained its sweetness.
9
Clara's father was Josiah William Alexander, late of the Indian Civil Service in Indore.
10
Each pack of foxhounds has its own territory in which it may hunt. This territory is defined by the Masters of Foxhounds, and is referred to as âthe country'. At Melton Mowbray in Leicester the borders of The Quorn, The Belvoir and The Cottesmore countries come together â hence its place in foxhunting lore.
11
Entry in Parish Register, St Mary's Church, Ashwell, Rutland. Technically, the county of Rutland no longer exists; the village of Ashwell, three miles from Oakham and Whissendine, is now part of the county of Leicestershire, whilst the Cottesmore country with its copse-crowned hills and open rolling vales, is still considered to provide the cream of English foxhunting.
12
Interview with Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, 1986.
13
Private (unpublished) hunting diary of Miss S. Chaplin, 1880â1900. Property of the author.
14
Kelly's
Directory for the Counties of Leicestershire and Rutland
, 1904.
15
âNearly ten thousand pounds a mile were expended upon its construction.' See
My African Journey
, Winston S. Churchill, Hodder & Stoughton, 1908.
16
The Lunatic Express
, Charles Miller, Macdonald, 1971; and J.J. Toogood mss, Rhodes House Library, Oxford. ref: AFR s.782.
17
Unpublished memoir, Miss Margaret Elkington, Rhodes House Library, Oxford, ref: AFR s.1558.
18
My African Journey
, Winston S. Churchill, Hodder & Stoughton, 1908.
19
East African Standard
, 30 July 1904.
20
My African Journey
, Winston S. Churchill, Hodder & Stoughton, 1908.
21
African Rainbow
, H.K. Binks, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1959.
22
White Man's Country
, Elspeth Huxley, Chatto & Windus, 1935.
23
East African Standard
, 4 August 1904.
24
White Man's Country
by Elspeth Huxley (Chatto & Windus 1935) is the authorised biography of Lord Delamere and the standard work on white settlement in Kenya.
25
Beryl Markham, during interview March 1986, Nairobi.
26
White Man's Country
, Elspeth Huxley, Chatto & Windus, 1935.
27
Rhodes House library; Elspeth Huxley interview with C.B. Clutterbuck, Elburgon, Kenya, 1932: ref AFR s. 782 (the rupee equates to 20 new pence).
28
White Man's Country
, Elspeth Huxley, Chatto & Windus, 1935.
29
The Lunatic Express
, Charles Miller, Macdonald, 1971.
30
For further reading see
No Easy Way
by Elspeth Huxley. This book was a commissioned history of the Kenya Farmers' Association, and Unga Ltd, published in Nairobi by the
East African Standard
in 1957.
31
The Lunatic Express
, Charles Miller, Macdonald, 1971.
32
East African Standard
, 30 July 1927.
33
Interview with Mr Langley Morris, Herefordshire, 1986.
34
ibid.
35
ibid.
36
East African Standard
, 21 January 1905. The term âhh' refers to the height of a horse or pony, which is measured in âhands'.
37
âAt the race meeting of February 4th C.B. Clutterbuck rode the following horses: “Dawn” and “The Toy” belonging to Lord Delamere; “Silver King” owned by R.J. Church; “Vivander” owned by W.H. Griers; “Wee Woman” owned by H. Cravens and “Gladys” owned jointly by R.B. Cole and C.B. Clutterbuck.'
East African Standard
, February 1905.
38
Rhodes House Library, Elspeth Huxley interview with C.B. Clutterbuck, Elburgon, Kenya, 1932: ref. AFR s.782.
39
Unpublished memoir by Miss Margaret Elkington, Rhodes House Library, Oxford, ref. AFR s.1558.
40
Kenya Chronicles
, Lord Cranworth, Macmillan, 1939.
41
Reports in both
East African Standard
and
The Times of East Africa
, 28 April 1906.
42
Kenya Diary 1902â1906
, Richard Meinertzhagen, Oliver & Boyd, 1957; and republished by Eland Books, 1983. Charles Clutterbuck had gone up to Molo to buy some land for Lord Delamere when this incident took place.
43
ibid.
44
Unpublished memoir by Miss Margaret Elkington, Rhodes House Library, Oxford, ref. AFR s.1558.
45
East African Standard
, 4 August 1906.
46
The Times of East Africa
, 4 August 1906.
47
White Man's Country
, Elspeth Huxley, Chatto & Windus, 1935.
48
Rhodes House Library, ref. AFR s.782.
49
White Man's Country, Elspeth Huxley, Chatto & Windus, 1935.
50
Interview with Mr Langley Morris, Herefordshire, 1986.
51
The Lunatic Express
, Charles Miller, Macdonald, 1971.
52
The East African Protectorate
, Sir Charles Eliot, Edward Arnold, 1905.
53
My African Journey
, Winston S. Churchill, Hodder & Stoughton, 1908.
54
âMaster Richard Clutterbuck (aged six years) sailed on s.s.
Natal
28 August 1906 northbound for Brindisi and Trieste, thence overland to England via Paris and Calais.' See
East African Standard
, I September 1906. Richard travelled in the company of âMr and Mrs Cholmley and Miss Cholmley'.
55
Kenya Chronicles
, Lord Cranworth, Macmillan, 1939.
56
âMrs Clara Clutterbuck sailed on 28 November 1906, aboard s.s.
Djemnah
to Marseille and overland to England.'
East African Standard
, 1 December 1906.
57
Reports in
East African Standard
: 22 July 1905: âMajor H.F. Kirkpatrick came down [to Nairobi] from Kismayu by the s.s.
Juba
; subsequently went to England “on leave”.' Returned to Kenya on 17 February 1906.
CHAPTER 2
1
Evanson Muwangi, who worked at Green Hills farm when Beryl was a child, interviewed by the production team of
World without Walls
, Njoro, 1984. Mr Muwangi lost a leg in Clutterbuck's saw mill and has worked on the site ever since for a succession of owners. He is now employed as a wool-spinner.
2
Private correspondence between Doreen Bathurst Norman and the author.
3
âSomething I Remember' by Beryl Markham (c. 1944).
4
Private correspondence between Doreen Bathurst Norman and the author.
5
Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, April 1986.
6
Mrs Tobina Cole (wife of Lady Delamere's nephew) told the author that the two farms were about eight miles apart and as the only method of transport was riding, she doubted if the two families had daily contact as claimed by Beryl in her memoir. âClutterbuck,' Mrs Cole recalled, âcould talk of nothing except horses and perhaps one would not wish to see that sort of neighbour every day,' but she felt that Lady Delamere would have been very kind to the motherless little girl.
7
Kenya Diary 1902â1906
, Richard Meinertzhagen, Eland Books, 1983.
8
Rhodes House Library, Oxford, notes on E. Huxley's interview with C.B. Clutterbuck, Elburgon, 1932, ref. AFR s.782.
9
White Man's Country
, Elspeth Huxley, Chatto & Windus, 1935.
10
Interview with Mr Langley Morris, Herefordshire, April 1986.
11
Rhodes House Library, Oxford, ref. AFR s.782.
12
My African Journey
, Winston S. Churchill, Hodder & Stoughton, 1908.
13
Isak Dinesen: The Life of Karen Blixen
, Judith Thurman, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980 (p 153).
14
Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, March 1986.
15
âSomething I Remember', by Beryl Markham (c. 1944).
16
My African Journey
, Winston S. Churchill, Hodder & Stoughton, 1908.
17
Interview with Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, 1986.
18
Unpublished memoir by Miss Margaret Elkington, Rhodes House Library, Oxford, ref. AFR s.1558.
19
Extract from a short story by Beryl Markham entitled âSomething I Remember', written in 1943.
20
Extract from unpublished page of manuscript in Beryl Markham's papers, by kind permission of the late Beryl Markham.
21
There were two sons of Richard Henry Clutterbuck's first marriage: Henry Baldwin Clutterbuck, and Charles Baldwin Clutterbuck â Beryl's father.
22
Interview with Mr Nigel N. Clutterbuck, Salisbury, 1986.
23
Beryl made this statement to Associated Press journalist Barry Schlachter during an interview in 1983.
24
Interview with Langley Morris, Herefordshire, April 1986.
25
Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, March 1986.
26
Interview with Langley Morris, Herefordshire, April 1986. Mr Morris explained that it became customary to dose any farm animal which was dying of natural causes with strychnine. Prior to this practice the Africans would often deliberately injure or poison an animal in order to be given the meat. âThey were not above breaking an animal's leg, or feeding it with some herb which made it appear sick in order to provide meat for some feast. I even heard that they poured boiling water down one cow's throat.'
27
Interview with Langley Morris, Herefordshire, April 1986.
28
Mr Ian Quiller Orchardson, son of William Quiller Orchardson RA, eventually produced a huge manuscript entitled âThe Kipsigis'. It is well written, highly readable and covers all social customs from birth to death, as well as a section on language. He says in the introduction: âWhy write a book on the Kipsigis? Simply because it has not been done previouslyâ¦if the well known book on the Nandi by Sir A.C. Hollis treats of an adjacent tribe â differing no more from the Kipsigis than Yorkshiremen do from the men of Kent.' The manuscript is lodged at the Rhodes House Library, Oxford.
29
Interview with Miss Pamela Scott, Deloraine, Kenya, March 1986.
30
Interview with Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, May 1986.
31
ibid.
32
ibid.