Straight on Till Morning (58 page)

15
Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby' Block; and telephone conversation with Mr Robin Higgin.

16
‘Beryl Markham', Mervyn F. Hill,
Kenya Weekly News
, 1964.

17
ibid.

18
Letter to the author from Mr C. ‘Romulus' Kleen, Sweden.

19
Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster' Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.

CHAPTER 15

Because most of the information in this chapter was provided in a series of interviews with Mr Ryan ‘Buster' Parnell, individual items attributed to him are not sourced, to avoid inevitable repetition. It should be noted, however, that a great deal of background information was also provided by other informants and where appropriate these are detailed.

1
Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby' Block.

2
East African Standard
, July 1960; and Mr Ryan ‘Buster' Parnell, June 1986.

3
General, but specifically see
Flame Trees of Thika
, Elspeth Huxley, Penguin, 1984.

4
Racing report in
The Nation
, Nairobi, 3 August 1960 by ‘Blenheim'. The horses were: Sea Lord, Muffindi, Rio Grande, Dancing Flame, Title Deed, Speed Trial, Frigate and Bridgeway.

5
Information provided by Mr Muraguri of the Jockey Club, Nairobi, April 1986.

6
Several informants who knew Beryl in 1936 made a similar statement that it was important to Beryl to ‘prove something' to Tom at any cost.

7
Lucerne is a green clover-like fodder plant, capable of rapid growth and having great water-retaining properties.

8
Copenhagen and Malmo race courses, June 1986.

9
The late Mervyn F. Hill had known Beryl since her first success as a trainer in 1925, when he acted as timekeeper for the Jockey Club at the old Nairobi Race Course. Mr Hill was a well-known writer in Kenya and his book
Permanent Way
is regarded as the standard work on the Uganda Railway and its effect on the history of Kenya during the colony's development. He was also editor of and writer for the
Kenya Weekly News
, in which his article ‘Beryl Markham' originally appeared.
Robin Higgin was well known in Kenya racing circles. He died suddenly in the summer of 1986 whilst on a visit to England. Some months before his death he wrote an article about Beryl's racing career for the American racing magazine
Bloodhorse
(see: ‘In Africa', 29 March 1986) and was interviewed by the author when he repeated his views on Beryl's feeding methods.

10
Independence (Uhuru) was achieved on 12 December 1963 and a republic was proclaimed in the following year when Kenyatta was declared president.

11
Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby' Block.

12
Then and Now: Nairobi's Norfolk Hotel
, Jan Hemsing, Sealpoint, 1975.

13
Letter to the author from Mr E.R. ‘Tubby' Block.

14
‘Beryl Markham', Mervyn F. Hill, Kenya, 1964.

15
A well-known open-air café built around a thorn tree. Traditionally, messages for out-of-town friends were left spiked on this tree in the early settlement days.

16
Telephone interviews with Mrs Anna Parnell during 1986.

17
Letter to the author from Mr G. ‘Romulus' Kleen, Sweden, September 1986.

18
Interview with Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, April 1986.

19
East African Standard
, 3 February 1964.

20
‘Beryl Markham', Mervyn F. Hill, Kenya, 1964.

21
Letter from Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, September 1986.

CHAPTER 16

1
Telephone conversation with Mrs Patricia O'Neill.

2
Often called ‘Duke' – a diminutive of his christian name – Lord Furness was also known to some as ‘Jockey' Furness in later years.

3
Telephone conversation with Mrs Patricia O'Neill.

4
Interview with Mrs Doris Smart, Sussex, May 1986.

5
The Bathurst Norman family returned to England in 1960 because Charles was suffering from pyrethrum poisoning. He returned to Kenya in 1963 having taken a job as resident magistrate. Doreen followed him that autumn.

6
Interview with Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, Jersey, June 1986.

7
ibid.

8
Interview with Mrs Patricia O'Neill.

9
ibid.

10
ibid.

11
Cape News
, 3 August 1965.

12
ibid.

13
Interview with Mrs Patricia O'Neill.

14
ibid.

15
Interview with Mrs Anna Parnell, September 1986.

16
Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster' Parnell, Malmo, Sweden, June 1986.

17
ibid.

18
Interview with Mrs Anna Parnell, September 1986.

19
Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, April 1986.

20
Interview with Mrs Patricial O'Neill, September 1986.

21
Interview with Mrs Doris Smart, Sussex, May 1986.

22
Interview with Mrs Anna Parnell, September 1986.

23
Now Zimbabwe.

24
Sunday Mail
(Rhodesia), 23 June 1968.

25
Letters from Mr Peter Leth, Cornwall, 1986.

26
East African Standard
, Michael Clower, 1972.

27
Interview with Mme Viviane Markham, London, June 1986.

28
Interview with Sir Charles Markham Bt, Nairobi, March 1986.

29
Interview with Mr Ulf Aschan, Nairobi, March 1986.

30
Telephone conversation with Mr Robin Higgin, 30 May 1986.

31
Letter from Mrs Doreen Bathurst Norman, June 1986.

32
Introduction to
West with the Night
, Virago, 1984.

33
ibid.

34
Interview with Dennis Leatherby by production team of television documentary
World without Walls
, 1984.

35
‘Turf Chatter' by ‘The Squirrel' (Paddy Migdoll),
East African Standard
, 7 January 1976.

36
‘In Africa', Robin Higgin,
Bloodhorse
, 29 March 1968.

37
Interview with Mrs Flora ‘Paddy' Migdoll, Nairobi, March 1986.

38
Interview with Mr F.D. Erskine, Nairobi, April 1986.

39
Interview with Mr Ryan ‘Buster' Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.

40
Interview with Mr F.D. Erskine, Nairobi, April 1986.

41
‘In Africa', Robin Higgin,
Bloodhorse
, 29 March 1968.

42
Later Duchess of Portland.

43
Interview with Mr F.D. Erskine, Nairobi, April 1986.

44
Letter provided by Beryl Markham during interview in Nairobi, April 1986. When I read it aloud she said, ‘Do you see what they tried to do to me? That's what I had to put up with then…'

45
Interview with Sir Charles Markham Bt, Nairobi, March 1986.

46
Interview with Mr Buster Parnell, Copenhagen, June 1986.

47
Interview and letters from Nancy, Countess of Enniskillen, 1986.

48
Letter from Gwyneth, Duchess of Portland, 1986.

CHAPTER 17

1
Interviews with Jack Couldrey, Nairobi, March and April 1986.

2
Ulf Aschan is the godson of, and author of a biography of, Bror Blixen, published Sweden 1986, and USA 1987.

3
Odero, who is a member of the Luo tribe, was the senior houseservant of the Bathurst Normans until they returned to England.

4
Conversations with V.J. Varma, Nairobi, April 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of
World without Walls
, 1984.

5
Interviews with Paddy Migdoll, Nairobi, March and April 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of
World without Walls
, 1984.

6
Interview with Beryl Markham, Nairobi, April 1986.

7
Interview with Sir Charles Markham, Nairobi, March 1986.

8
Telephone conversation with David Sugden, September 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of World without Walls, 1984.

9
ibid.

10
Letter from Bill Purdy, August 1986; and transcript of interviews by the crew of
World without Walls
, 1984.

11
East African Standard
, August 1982.

12
Extract from eulogy given by Jack Couldrey at Beryl's funeral, Nairobi, August 1986.

13
Ernest Hemingway – Selected Letters
, ed. Carlos Baker, Granada Publishing, 1981. The phrase ‘and we might even say a high-grade bitch' appears in the original letter but was omitted from the above work to avoid possible legal problems. This information generously provided by Carlos Baker in correspondence with the author.

14
Series of interviews and letters between George Gutekunst and the author.

15
Letter, Jack Couldrey to James Fox, 5 December 1980.

16
The author of
White Mischief
; and of ‘Who is Beryl Markham?'
Observer Magazine
, 30 September 1984.

17
Interviews with Jack Couldrey, Nairobi, March and April 1986.

18
Letter to the author from Mr E. Baring-Gould, California. September 1986.

19
Telephone conversations with Mr John F. Potter, France, December 1986.

20
Comments made by Sir Charles Markham Bt, Elspeth Huxley and others to the author.

21
Interview and letters from Sir Charles Markham.

22
Santa Barbara Historical Society library.

23
Telephone conversation with Dr Warren R. Austin, October 1986.

24
Letter to the author from Doreen Bathurst Norman, August 1986; interview with Paddy Midgoll, Nairobi, April 1986; and others.

25
Besides a large number of inevitable books on horseracing (such as Gordon Richards' biography,
Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners
and
Sods I Have Cut on the Turf
etc.), and on Africa (such as
The Lunatic Express
and
Last Chance in Africa
), there were many classic books such as Ransen's
Maasai Lands
;
A book of African Legends
;
The Life of Christ
;
A Biography of Doc Holliday
;
Air Navigation – British Empire Edition
;
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
. There were also books which no writer would be without:
Roget's Thesaurus
, and the complete edition of
Webster's New English Dictionary
; and there were novels by: Somerset Maugham; John Steinbeck; Ernest Hemingway; Nancy Mitford; Stuart Cloete; Dick Francis and others.

26
Collier's Weekly Magazine
, 30 June 1945.

27
Transcript of filmed interview with Kay Boyle by film crew of television documentary
World without Walls
.

28
The Splendid Outcast
, Beryl Markham, compiled by Mary S. Lovell, Hutchinson, 1987, and North Point Press (USA) 1987.