when the posh children in Enid Blyton have an "ice", I always thought it meant "ice lolly"...

[sadpapercourtesan]

...but I was reading "Five Go To Billycock Hill" last night, and they talked about having an "ice" in a tub with a little wooden spoon...surely that's an ice cream?!

Yes, I have too much time on my hands. I should be doing stuff

It's an ice - like as in Marine Ices 🤷‍♀️

Or choc ice.

@TwentyViginti - I remember staying with my ex-boyfriend’s parents, only about 15 years ago, and his mum’s friend described wearing “my favourite N-brown coat”. She’d have been in her mid-60s then, in NI - no idea if it took longer to die out there then elsewhere, but I’d never heard it before and couldn’t believe it.

DD (8) is currently hooked on Famous Five, Malory Towers, St Clare’s, Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair. She’s going through exactly the same phase I remember experiencing as a child, where her written and spoken language is completely shaped by Blyton vocabulary and syntax. It’s quite sweet, but I do struggle with the class and gender stuff, as well as the way that in the school stories everyone is brought into line and made to recognise the fundamental importance of loyalty to the school...
LOVE the pp who didn’t understand the fuss about sexism because her mum swapped all the sexes over. Wish I’d thought of that.

That’s a different Harry, I think, @SerenDippitty — there’s definitely a George-alike girl called Harry at the riding stables in Mystery Moor. It wasn’t one of EB’s better FF efforts, admittedly, and features an incredibly prejudiced depiction of gypsies as surly and criminal, not to mention a gypsy boy called Sniffer whose caravan the Five propose to visit ‘as long as it’s not too smelly’.

Yes I think you're right about that being Five Go Off to Camp Seren. That rings a bell about Harry/Finniston Farm as well. I can't remember Mystery Moor/stables at all now.

Was finniston Farm the one with the race to find the Anglo Saxon (?) treasure hoard?

All the stories are starting to blend into one

Yes, Finniston Farm was Roman treasure and annoying Americans. Five Go Down To The Sea was the travelling players, and "by Tre, Pol and Pen, you shall know the Cornish men." Another of Julian's handy mnemonics. I use his stalagtite one in all stalagtite identification situations.

I got my farms mixed up!

Finniston Farm is the one with the treasure, twins called the Harries, and Ghastly Americans Who Buy Up History and are Not the Right Type of Guest .

Five Go Down to the Sea is the Cornish one with the Barnies, a pantomime horse, smugglers, and an incomprehensible farmer who doesn’t put in his false teeth.

I remember starting to read the St Clare’s books when I was 6 or so and thinking that Isabel was the most refined and beautiful name I had ever heard. Not many girls had that names in the 70s and 80s whereas they’re ten a penny these days. I felt sorry for Pat being called such a sensible name when her twin had the Name Of Dreams.

@OxenoftheSun I'm so glad you mentioned five go on a hike together - I LOVED that one but never usually see it mentioned on these threads! Not that I'm over invested or anything...

Enid Blyton really wasn't UMC - her father was a cutlery salesman.

Interesting article on her. (Warning- contains examples of racist language she used)

Mystery Moor is where both George and Harry compete to be the most boyish/ manly but when danger comes, (I think George has been kidnapped again ) Harry decides it would be best to defer to William, who is actually younger than her, because he is an actual boy. I still remember the outrage I felt over that.

I also liked Five On a Hike Together - “Two trees! Gloomy water! Saucy Jane! And Maggie knows!” it said on the back.There was an outstanding breakfast in that book, I particularly remember the porridge with cream, and the mushrooms.

Oh also it was set at Whitsun I think, which I found pleasingly different, since I had no idea what Whitsun was.

Does he also say tuthbrush for toothbrush? - If you don't know, find out! grin

I don’t think that’s posh?! I say toothbrush so tooth sounds like tuth and not so it rhymes with booth. I was born in Wales and everyone says it that way ☺️

Mystery Moor was Henry (Henrietta)

Finniston Farm was the twin Harries (Henry aka Harry, and Harriet, aka Harry)

There was another twin Harry in Five on a Secret Trail - he was actually a boy instead of a girl pretending to be one. His twin was called Guy. They had quarrelled and refused to acknowledge the other existed, so George and Anne thought they were one person.

@TinyMetalBirds

I also liked Five On a Hike Together - “Two trees! Gloomy water! Saucy Jane! And Maggie knows!” it said on the back.There was an outstanding breakfast in that book, I particularly remember the porridge with cream, and the mushrooms.

Was Five on a Hike Together the one featuring a woman with shock horror dyed hair, a sure sign of Being Up To No Good?

Loved six bad boys I've read it loads of times.

I'm so glad I kept all my EB books so can read them in their original form! Although some of them are very vert tatty now :(

@jessstan2 I'm so glad. It's pure pleasure ☺️

@FlamedToACrisp well, second-best.... 😆

I always assumed the apportioning of the Kirrin surname was a mistake, and that she, or her unconscious imagination, forgot Aunt Fanny's family had owned the island and the farmhouse.

I think EB was, early on, ungenerous in her portrayal of certain groups, and then read some criticism, and decided to make amends by being kind to them and praising all their skills in a subsequent book. She did get some flak in her own lifetime.

I can't really see what's wrong with her plotting if we all want to read on.

Oh that’s right, Henry not Harry.
Yes, I think Maggie had dyed hair. And smoked a fag. Pass me the smelling salts.
Speaking of hair, I believe once Anne had her hair in a ponytail and was relentlessly teased by the boys for being awfully vulgar. Or maybe she was just thinking about a ponytail. Ponytails were definitely non-U, anyway.

Unless on actual ponies of course.

I actually watched a film about Enid Blyton and her own two girls as far as I recall went to - boarding school.
She's not depicted as a kind motherly type in the film - moreso of a dismissive Queen Elizabeth type.
I wonder what her children achieved?
I grew up in an abusive home and my absolute joy and escape was EB books. I won't hear a bad word said about her. She saved my life in many ways.

@Stoic123

Oh - wish they wouldn't change money/terms, it captures a moment in time. An addtional chapter at the beginning to give historical context/glossary would be good.

Totally agree they are a piece of history and mixing in modern terms/currency really spoils it, do they do this with other writers of a different era or is it just Enid Blyton?