Autumn Term at the Chalet School

[Vintagejazz]

Just starting a new thread here as I can't spot a new one.

So my lambs feel free to keep spreading the hanes, but watch the slang!

Just reading Heather Leaves School and was very taken with this sentence,
"Mrs Raphael was very enthusiastic about these old folk-dances, and had had the villagers taught properly, so that they all danced well".
Hope they doffed their caps and were suitably grateful.

Well, presumably they all spontaneously started dancing (very well) out of gratitude whenever they saw her?

Folk dancing apparently much recommended, between the wars, for spinsters seeking to discharge their frustrated energies. Which is the same kind of thing as when its used in the CS to tire out fractious Middles trapped inside by lasting awful weather, isn't it.

There is a lot of folk dancing in Jean of Storms.

Emily love the dancing grateful villagers.

Havnt read headmistress or Gillian and now want to order them.

Did read peace comes and librarian and enjoyed them both.

Joey has her hair cut in librarian and Len is a working wife.

Librarian's not a GGB one, is it? - do you think they rejected it on the grounds of how implausible Joey cutting her hair would be?

Headmistress and Gillian both v much worth a read, for sure. Headmistress is actually awesome and is a really good story in its own right as well as how good it is for drawing threads together and filling in gaps believably; Gillian as I say has good and bad points but I so want someone else to read it for discursive purposes! It did make me cry, but then I can be a bit of a spineless jellyfish for crying at books.

I am starting a total re read....Just finished School...I will reach Gillian at some point!!

Enjoy, hels - I've just finished mine, but since I did it all via transcripts I now need to figure out which books aren't there and dig them out of my collection. Which is sadly almost 100% Armada so I'm sure bits will be missing.

I've just read the first EJO that someone uploaded I really enjoyed it, and yes the similarities with the whole checking answers at the back of a textbook that EBD used was essentially a direct lift, wasn't it? Am about to commence on the second, fingers crossed it's a good'un.

Rue once you've worked out which are missing from the transcripts would you mind posting the list on here? I know there are one or two being transcribed/been promised ATM. I think the last time I checked Excitements was one of the missing ones - I've only got the pb of this and it's a bloody rubbish book anyway but I think it's only slightly cut and I'm happy to commit to transcribing this if people would like?

Joey had her hair cut after a bad car crash with head injuries so it wasn't voluntary.

Re reading chalet school and the island and wanting to go to Tenby/Saundersfoot right now.

Mary-Lou is missing and it's one I don't have.

Oh and Mary-Lou has the excellent bit featuring light whipping (again) followed by OOAO getting told off for getting overexcited and climbing on top of a cupboard. I am happy to transcribe it, but only have a pb and think it's a 'major cuts' one so will hold off to see if a better offer comes up first?

Have just come back from my Thursday afternoon walk with the ladies of the village and nobody had ever heard of a plumeau apart from as a feather duster. They said at one time mattresses had plumes as we had feather beds, but not covers. They also said that couettes (duvets) were quite recent and before that they had édredons. Had never heard the word before and then the penny dropped that it was eiderdown. Which must be from the English as the French word for down, as we know, is duvet.
So I think plumeau must be a Frenchified word from Germany / Austria.
Fascinating!

Emily, did you see the link I posted? It looks like it comes from the Dutch plumo, but whether that came via French I don't know?

Yes I think that Dutch word plumo comes from the French word plumeau and has then been made more Dutch in its spelling (like édredon in French).
I have just looked up feather in Dutch and it is veer, so I think the root is the French plume.

I could be persuaded to transcribe either Mary-Lou or Excitements , possibly both at some point, as I have GGBs of them, but I can't promise I could really put in any serious work on them until April. I'm discovering my second year of uni is a lot more work than my first, but I might be able to do some transcribing over Christmas (I have four weeks off, and only one essay to write, but then it is Christmas...) but my year finishes in March/April, and I could conceivably transcribe both over the summer, if people were willing to wait until then.

The only one I've never read now is Jo to the Rescue , but I think someone's already working on that...?

So, missing transcripts (coming, Nell?):
xx - Rescue (numbering order is messed up and there isn't a number to give it atm! Comes between Gay and Tom.) Armada is uncut.
34 - Mary-Lou (Major cuts in Armada)
38 - Excitements (Minor frequent cuts)
45 - Leader (Minor frequent cuts)
54 - Summer Term (Uncut)

I think someone was working on Rescue, anyone with a HB or GGBP copy want to volunteer for one of the others?

Arf at "coming, Nell?"

Thanks for the list. I can't help with the unabridged of any of those, though as I say pb Excitements could easily be arranged if no better offer is forthcoming/people don't want to wait until Obligatory stops selfishly concentrating on her degree, very much like Marilyn Evans I must say...

I believe the GGB system numbers Rescue at 19, with the three shorts Mystery - Rosalie being 19a, 19b and 19c. Does this help or is it just irrelevant waffle?

I can hear actual singing below my bedroom window. It's definitely not Hark Hark the Lark nor the golden notes of a choir boy, but it's still a rather thrilling event.

I'm doing Rescue but is taking much longer than anticipated. I'm on Chapter 3. Don't stone me with lemon biscuits!

Hello,

re transcripts, I'm working on Mary-Lou, from a hb copy. It's had a bit of a gap cos I've been moving house, but I should be able to get down to it over winter. Will crack on when I can.

Fab! (I'm fresh out of lemon biscuits, pontefractals, so you're safe from this direction).

xx - Rescue - Cheddar transcribing
34 - Mary-Lou - pontefractals transcribing from HB
38 - Excitements (Minor frequent cuts) - Obligatory might be able to transcribe in 6 months ish
45 - Leader (Minor frequent cuts)
54 - Summer Term (Uncut)

I'll have a look and see if I can find Summer Term and report back. Anyone have an uncut version of Leader and wants to transcribe it?

I've started Excitements! Can't promise much before April, but I'll do a bit whenever I can. Brain too tired to work on essays now, so some mindless typing will do!

And I have discovered a probable EBDism on the first page "Lesley Bethune, the second Hobbies prefect" - surely this is Lesley Malcolm, one of the members of the Gang? What did Elinor do - just make up a name when she forgot the previous one?

Also, I found Book Reviews in a 1960s book of games for children/youth groups. And in another book from the 80s, I found a description of what looked suspiciously like progressive games - complete with picking up peas with knitting needles!

Now I'm off to play Book Reviews with my brothers. (Coming, Nell?)

We played some of the CS games one Christmas at home. I did not mention CS to my family nor did we do the progressive bit, but with several glasses of wine I seem to recall many were entertaining.....We still enjoy the one with letters and categories...

Alas, Book Reviews didn't turn up anything particularly spectacular tonight, but the Poetry Game, which is in a similar vein (first person writes three lines, first two rhyming couplet, and folds over so only line three is showing; second person complete the 2nd couplet with line 4, writes line 5, folds so only line 5 is showing; and so on, until the last person writes three lines to finish it off) turned up a couple which made us laugh:

Bathing the Pope

My parrot is a massive bear
But I really don't care
It told me this absurd fact
About the wall that was cracked
And through the cracks came a terrible sound
It shook the sky, it shook the ground
I wondered what on earth it was
But I didn't investigate further because
I was having too much fun playing with my soap
As are joys of washing the Pope!

and

My name is [DBs name]
And my favourite trick is farting
I do it all the time
When I want to rhyme
But no words come to mind
And then I was attacked from behind
I fell onto the sofa crying with fright
And I stayed there fore the rest of the night
And when morning finally came I was jolted awake
And promptly swallowed by a gorgeous snake

I have strange brothers...