Beasts of England by Orwell with notes for Spanish-speaking learners of English

Just for fun. I begin the year in my English Learners class teaching them the basic genres, the history of the English language, phonics, pronunciation, literary devices with some short humorous limericks and poems. I try to teach them vocabulary but also cultural literacy. RICARDO MUNRO
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BEASTS OF ENGLAND by George Orwell
Notes and Commentary BY RICHARD K. MUNRO
"Beasts of England" is a fictional song in George Orwell’s satiric allegoric novel masterpiece Animal Farm (1945). It alludes to the famous Communist-Socialist anthem "The Internationale as well as Shelley’s romantic poem "Men of England"[1]
In Animal Farm, Old Major the pig describes his dream of an animal-controlled utopia just a few nights before his death. Old Major recalls a tune he heard as a piglet, so many years ago, entitled “Beasts of England”. The pigs quickly memorize the song, foreshadowing their future dominance, while other animals follow rhythm and beat as best they can.

The animals joyously sing “Beasts of England” after the revolution against Farmer Jones. However, as Napoleon the Pig grows more powerful, using packs of dogs to terrorize the farm, he orders that the singing of "Beasts of England" be outlawed. Napoleon then replaces “Beasts of England” with an anthem praising himself! He changes the animal laws saying:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

A very funny song from a very funny but also very sad book which along with 1984 are prophetic warnings about the dangers of Communism, totalitarianism and the power of the modern state.




BEASTS OF ENGLAND (George Orwell) tune: “La cucaracha”
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings[2]
Of the golden future time.

Soon or late the day is coming,
Tyrant Man shall be o'erthrown,[3]
And the fruitful fields of England
Shall be trod[4] by beasts alone.

Rings will vanish from our noses,
And the harnesses[5] from our back,
Bit[6] and spur shall rust forever,
And cruel whips no more shall crack.

Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans[7], and mangel-wurzels [8]
Shall be ours upon that day.

Bright will shine the fields of England,
Purer shall its waters be,
Sweeter yet shall blow its breezes
On the day that sets us free.

For that day we all must labour[9],
Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for our freedom's sake.

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
Of the golden future time.





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[1] To the Men of England by Shelley (fragment)
Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear?

Wherefore feed and clothe and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat -nay, drink your blood?




[2] Tidings : news (noticias)

[3] Poetic for OVERTHROWN- derrocado ; echado del poder

[4] To tread (trod) trodden (pisar/pisó/pisado; as in downtrodden (pisoteado; oprimidio)

[5] Harness: arreos

[6] Bit= bocado, freno

[7] Wheat and barley (trigo y cebada), oats and hay ( avena y heno),Clover, beans (trébol y frijoles)

[8] Animals are known to thrive excellently upon this plant, both its leaves and roots providing a nutritious food. Mangelwurzel

[9] British spelling; closer to the original French like colour for color and valour for valor.

Munro’s commentary on China, the Olympics, Immigration and challenges to the primacy of the English speaking peoples.

Q What did you think of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics? I found it very militaristic beneath the glossy exterior, and even menacing to see all those thousands of automatons.


As far as China and the Olympics go, yes, I found the ceremonies obsequious to Chinese culture and history the way the 1936 Olympics were to the Nazis and the 3rd Reich.

While we sleep –and save nothing- China is becoming an economic powerhouse. They have a 40% savings rate. Soon and very soon we will be if we are not already an economic colony of the Chinese.

I cannot see how the USA can maintain air and naval supremacy for more than one generation in the pacific. China already is endangering our aircraft carriers with nuclear subs and its army, navy and air force are huge and modernizing in leaps and bounds. In round 2 of the Korean war we would certainly lose not tomorrow or five years from now but 25 years from now. It is only a matter of time. For our own good we should withdraw our troops from Korean before they are wiped out. That’s my opinion.

We have witnessed the decline and fall of one empire (the British) and its currency in the lifetime of my family. It was a major topic of discussion from my early youth.

The why and hows of our exile and the cause was the decline and fall of the British Empire starting in 1914. By 1945 things were worse as they could no longer sustain their navy leaving an almost total collapse of the Clyde Shipyards –they revived a bit 1939-1945,

But it got to the point that my people essentially emigrated en masse to the USA, Australia and Canada. We had survived the 18th and 19th century essentially by being agents of the British Empire and Maritime fleet. Every Highlander dreamed of making his modest fortune and returning to his native place and this was the pattern for generations but gradually they were pulled to the lowland cities and finally permanent emigration.

This was the price of individual freedom and independence: we had to throw our lot in with the English-speaking communities round the world and turn our back forever, as I have, on our ancestral homes.

I do not forget but I am a realist. My future and the future of my children is in the Americas and chiefly but not exclusively in the USA. And I know in a long journey some things must be left behind. But I take comfort in the fact that something always remains.

I read a HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE by Andrew Roberts last year. Andrew Roberts brilliantly reveals what made the English-speaking people the preeminent political culture since 1900, and how they have defended their primacy from the many assaults upon them. And yes, primacy or supremacy are the words we must use. America is free and independent because of economic, cultural, political, naval, military and air supremacy.

What connects those countries where the majority of the population speaks English as a first language—the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, even Ireland—is far greater than what separates them, and the development of their history since 1900 has been a phenomenal success story. But we may have witnessed the peak of the English-speaking peoples circa 1970.

I am not, as you know English, but I am an English-speaking person and have always considered myself an Anglophile.

But there is much evidence of a real cultural decline as well as an economic decline. In Britain things are worse than they are here because they are not assimilating immigrant populations.

But many of my English friends say that their former hometowns have become hostile alien communities. Here in California –perhaps you know the book Mexifornia- I hear the same complaint whole neighborhoods of Los Angeles and entire rural communities of the San Joaquin Valley have effectively ceased being part of the English-speaking world. Punjabi owners of the Chevron gas station in Arvin, California all speak Spanish –they say it is essential and 90% of their customers speak Spanish. In fact, they were afraid that English-speakers would not even stop there which is why they put up big signs ENGLISH SPOKEN HERE and AMERICAN FLAGS.

I asked my Auld Pop when I was a small boy why we spoke English if we were not English. He puffed on his unfiltered Pall Mall cigarettes and pondered a minute and then he said: “English is the language of the banks and the long-range guns. That’s why everybody speaks English even the English.”

The implication was, and I think this is true is that English has gained its primacy due to its prosperity, political stability and unity which are based on its culture –which includes home and community life.

English-speaking women -like many Europeans- are having children more reluctantly and less frequently. One of the results of this birth dearth is that in many communities there is no large cohort of English-speaking children to assimilate to.

English-speaking people take the survival and success of their language as a given.

As a Gael by heritage I do no take the survival and success of any language as a given. Gaelic has survived centuries of repression and neglect but now what will kill it will be Margaret Sanger. One of the reasons the language has survived was the abnormally high traditional birth rate of Highlanders as compared to other Britons. This is no longer true as birth control has reached the Islands and as people abandon a life of rural crofts and fishing. At present there are only 2,000 Gaelic speaking children in Gaelic speaking households; the median age of a Gaelic speaker is over 50 years of age.

It is ironic that Gaelic has become popular and fashionable at the same time the Pill and “Free Love” have undermined –in my view- its healthy family culture. There is hope of course but only just.

But I watch from afar as an American. Naturally I have a sentimental tie to the Old World –especially Scotland, the Holy Land, Rome and Spain- but I am an American by choice and it is America which concerns me most.

English-speakers are so sure about the automatic supremacy of American and the English language and I think many resent the competition of Spanish. Yet in Spanish English has found a tenacious rival.

There can be no question that Spanish will continue to thrive and grow in the United States and this is due in large part do the gaps in our own native-English speaking population (perhaps caused by 48,000,000 abortions?). Nature abhors a void and into that demographic void come countless millions of Asia and Latin immigrants.

Of course the problem is greater than the abortion question by itself. No one knows how many pregnancies were blocked and how much birth control and the ZPG mentality has led to cult of childlessness not merely “birth control.” The birth rate per 1000 has dropped dramatically. It was 30.1 in 1910 to a low of 19.1 in 1940 to the so-called ‘baby boom’ of the 50’s (every year at 24.1 to 25.3). From then it is has gradually declined to less than half of early 20th century levels to recent years of 13.9 to 14.1. SOURCE http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html

But the percentage is misleading because the birth rate for native English speaking Americans is much lower than ZPG in many states. It is well-known that educated women tend to have fewer children than less educated women.

Over 50% of the children born in California are Hispanic and in some communities the number is closer to 90%. Demography is destiny both for nations, cultures, religions and languages. Of course the fact that one is born “Latino” whatever that means does not mean this person is going to be a Spanish speaking Roman Catholic. One must take into account mixed marriages, Americanized Hispanics (who are no longer Spanish-speaking) and other factors. Julie Banderas on Fox News is part Hispanic (she is part Columbian) but as far as I know she doesn’t speak a word of Spanish she just has a South American look due to her Latin American connection.

So culture and education are the crucial factors. If I didn’t believe it were so I would not be a teacher. But so are families and communities. If the language of the community ceases to be English then this will undermine English medium education. Perhaps it already has. I have dedicated my life to teaching in the public schools and as a private citizen to the teaching of ethics, family culture and religion. I am, of course, a Roman Catholic, but I have militated against sectarian prejudice and anti-Semitism as well. But I am also a public school teacher. I believe that religion must be a voluntary association and that as Americans we must peacefully coexist with private differences of religion. That having been said, the future history of America and its political unity will depend on our education or intermarriage with and assimilation of immigrant populations. Of this I am certain.

There is no question that immigration and especially illegal immigration is controversial and perhaps unsustainable. I have sympathy for the orphans of empire but I have no sympathy whatsoever with criminal gangs and lawlessness. So this is serious problem that must be addressed. In this age of terror we cannot afford to be laissez faire about immigration.

Nonetheless, I see most Latino and Asian immigrants as cultural allies not enemies. Hispanics can become a pillar of American society. Whatever problems they bring they bring us youth and energy. It is up to people like me to see that this energy is channeled into positive avenues. That’s the way I see it.

And so I serve not just to work and do a job but carry on my calling with absolute and total dedication. I believe America is, on the whole a good and free country and as an American I want the country where we have settled to be free, prosperous and united for the common good not just for myself alone in my life time.

And of course I am interested in the survival and success of the English-speaking world as well because those democracies are our natural allies followed by Latin Democracies (including Quebec and France) and other democracies. China is not a democracy. It remains a Pagan Fascist-Communist dictatorship. It may prove to be a much greater danger than Islamofascism in the long run.

I want Hispanic immigrants on our side the way William Pitt wanted the Highlanders on HIS SIDE not rebelling or fighting for the French. Pitt began a policy of amnesty and religious tolerance. The Highland poet, Duncan Ban Macintyre wrote:

Men bred in the rough bounds,
the host that is trustworthy...
Men of elan and mettle
with blue blade in pommel...
Descendants of noble clans,
begotten of north men,
'twas their instinct in every action
to advance...


William Pitt (the Elder), (1707-1778) on his famous eulogy to the Highland Regiments in 1766:

I sought for merit wherever it could be found. It is my boast that I was the first minister who looked for it, and found it, in the mountains of the north. I called it forth, and drew into your service a hardy and intrepid race of men; men who, when left by your jealousy, became a prey to the artifices of your enemies, and had gone nigh to have overturned the State, in the war before last. These men, in the last war, were brought to combat on your side; they served with fidelity, as they fought with valour, and conquered for you in every quarter of the world.

Pitt was right,of course, and thanks to him French-speaking Gaels –former soldiers of the French King’s Bodyguard of Scottish Archers- penetrated the French lines at Quebec in 1759 climbing up the hill and passing through the French lines without a shot. Parkman has a wonderful description of the event. The French soldiers assumed that no Englishman could speak French so fluently but then they forgot if they ever knew that French was the second language of generations of Highlanders who had served in French regiments –English being their third language.

People often underestimate people and cultures they do not know or understand. Part of the fear of new immigrants –part of it- is the uncertainty of how these immigrants will behave. Will they be good citizens or selfish brutish hooligan gangsters? There is no question that the strain of immigration and urbanization puts an unbelievable pressure of family life to the point that normal family life is shattered. This is why I believe everything possible should be done to keep families united as much as humanly possible and providing a healthy environment for youth.

But having stable families and creating large cohorts of native-speaking English children are essential if we are to Americanize immigrants or become in the words of TR a “polyglot boardinghouse”. The immigrants we have and the Hispanics we have are not going away. We need to find a way to peacefully coexist with them and make paths for their full citizenship in the USA if that is what they desire.
It is a fact of life that Mexico and Latin America share the American continent with us. But what we don’t know is how they will share the continent. As neighbors, as allies, as friends or as enemies? Are we going to have more Brazils and more Colombias or more Cubas and more Venezulas? We should do all we can, in my view to support the survival and success of free institutions in the USA and in the Americas, particularly.
John F. Kennedy in his address to the Canadian Parliament in 1961 spoke of the relationship with the USA and Canada but it could easily apply to Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Columbia and other Latin American nations:
Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.
What unites us is far greater than what divides us. The issues and irritants that inevitably affect all neighbors are small deed in comparison with the issues that we face together--above all the somber threat now posed to the whole neighborhood of this continent--in fact, to the whole community of nations. But our alliance is born, not of fear, but of hope. It is an alliance that advances what we are for, as well as opposes what we are against.

In the final analysis I think this is true. What unites the peoples of the Americas is far greater than what divides us. Let us put away the misunderstandings and misconceptions which give rise to uncertainty, fear and confusion but let us also be honest about the problems relating to uncontrolled illegal immigration and lawlessness. I know this world is a dangerous place but I hope that all the nations of the Americas will continue to grow in friendship, to grow in prosperity, and to grow in peaceful and democratic achievement. We are all Western peoples and I would be glad to welcome any Latin country as a cherished Western Ally.







Some sources on demography:



http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/5171


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/12/19/MN53431.DTL


http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats.html

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8136 John F. Kennedy address to the Canadian Parliament 1961

Davey O' Bruton (Daibhi O' Bruadair c.1626- 1698)

He spent most of his adult life in Limerick supported by patrons such as the Fitzgeralds but by 1674 at the age of 48 he was reduced to laboring in the fields.

Irish is harder for me than Scots Gaelic (the are about as close as Portuguese and Spanish) since I had little contact with native Irish Gaelic speakers as a boy but I enjoy the "big songs" nonetheless and I can always understand the gist of something Irish and I enjoy reading, translating and singing songs of the Irish Gael.

This is one of my favorite Gaelic poems.

1) "THE HIGH POETS ARE GONE FROM US "(D' Aithle Na bhfileadh)

by Daibhi O' Bruadair (Davey O' Bruton) from the Irish Gaelic

For the familiy of Cuchonnacht O Dalaigh

D' aithle na bhfileadh n-uasal

truaghsan timeal an tsaoghail

clann na n-ollamh go n-eagna

folamh gan freagra faobhair.

THE NOBLE HIGH -POETS ARE GONE FROM US

I MOURN FOR THE WORLD'S LOSS,

THE CHILDREN OF THOSE BARDS

SO WISE ARE HUSHED

YOU'LL NOT HEAR THEIR WITTY REPLIES!

Truagh a leabhair ag liath

tiach nach teabhair bhaoise

ar ceal nior choir a bhfoilcheas

toircheas bhfear n-oil na gaoise

BORN BY THE DRINKERS OF WISDOM'S SPRING

I PITY THEIR BOOKS A-GRAYING.

(NOT BOORISH PACKS OF STUPIDITY)

LOST, UNFAIRLY TO OBSCURITY.

D' aithle na bhfileadh dar ionmhas eisge is iul

Is mairg de chonnairc an chinneamhain d' erigh dhuinn

a leabhar ag titim i leimhe 's leithe i gcuil

's macaibh na droinge gan siolla da seadaibh run.

AFTER THE HIGH POETS

FOR WHOM ART AND KNOWLEDGE WERE RICHES,

IT IS WITH REGRET I LIVE TO SEE

THIS FATE BEFALL US

THEIR MOLDERING BOOKS IN CORNERS

THEIR LIFE'S WORK A BLUR

AND THE SONS OF THEIR RACE

WITHOUT A SYLLABLE OF THEIR SECRET TREASURE.

(translated R. MUNRO if that doesn't bring a tear to your "een" then are you are no Highlander as Auld Pop would say)

#2 THERE IS A lOVELY Highland Song called Mi'n So 'Nam Onar (Here I am in my loneliness)

I learned it from Lismore recordings of DAVID SOLLEY.

This song, written by me was set to the same melody (fonn).

It's all about knee-mail or the power of prayer, the last weapon of the poor or powerless.

WHEN I AM LOW AND SHADOW-HEARTED a song by RICHARD MUNRO (Ruiseart M'anrothaiche)

1)When I am low

and shadow-hearted,

When I am sad,

all joys departed

I turn to thee,

God of my fathers

and kneel and offer my quiet prayer !

2)Some misfortunes bring success,

Some things gained prove bottomless

Be Swift to hear, but slow to answer

Whatever befalls you ,

THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

3) When the world seems cruel and callous

So false and cold and full of malice

Remember this, remember it always:

Whatever befalls you, this too shall pass!

Munro's Commentary on Reading and Education

SEE BRIDGING DIFFERENCES the blog by Deb Meier and Diane Ravitch.


Dear Deb: Tony makes a very good point. Continued extended commentary (essasys) and refrences to literature are splendid. I too have read Horace's Choice by Sizer and agree it is a very good book. There is no question that secondary teachers have to compromose to the reality that
1) they want you to teach at the collee prep level but few students can read at the 8th grade level
2) a text is chosen for you and today with NCLB every teacher has to give standarized objective based tests. A good teacher will work harder to give some other quizzes, essays and projects but many teachers find that giving a series of computer corrected Scantrons meets the minimum requirement. So in that way standarized testing is insidious.
3) A secondary teacher will rarely teach a subject area or text more than for a few years. A Jack of all trades is a master of none.
4) High School exit exams help motive students a little bit but can devalue other classes such as science and social studies which are NOT specifically tested. Student know that a D is good enough for those classes passing in English proficiency and Math is enough.


In any case continue on with your discussions. They are illiminating.

I only know about Deb Meier by the way because Diane Ravitch recommended her books to me. Deb is obviously savvy, experienced and wise and she has a lot to teach others.

I think tempermentally and politically I could not be more different than Deb BUT I recognize we have much common ground. WE CARE ABOUT THE KIDS AND WANT TO SEE THEM AUTHENTICALLY ACHIEVE.

Both of us are skeptical of the superficial scantron quiz approach which does not favor, speaking orally on a topic, research or writing -all elements we both agree are needed for a student to develop.

I think Deb and I would agree that Scantron tests BY THEMSELVES are not accurate instruments and that they are acadeic junk food. For mass testing there may be no other recourse but there is no reason for a CLASSROOM teacher to be completely dependent on them. My idea is always teach BEYOND the test.

But one idea I have always held as a teacher that STUDENTS SHOULD BE EXPOSED TO AS GREAT A VARIETY of speech patterns, methods and approaches as possible. I have been a teacher long enough to know different students respond differently to different stimuli. I would not be good, for example, for a student only to hear a male voice in Spanish or English or only an American accent. A student should be conscious of what is standard for an educated native speaker but also be aware there is a British/Indian standard and an American standard. The only way for a student to become totally fluent in English is to read a wide variety of authors both classical and contemporary. Some free choice in reading or research projects is essential. One student may like Ken Follet's spy novels and another might like his more serious historical novels.

One thing is for certain: students should be encouraged to do some general reading (journals, newspapers, book and mmovie reviews) and some reading that is just for amusement. I believe if a student does both regularly he or she will be able to develop the seriousness and the stamina to be able to read and sstudy more serious works. Similarly, I bbelieve that it is useful for students tto translate poems, articles and defintions. If one can translate something one understands it. Translation is yet another tool for language learning. But it is not for everyone. I like to study etymologies bbut that is not for everyone. Diagraming sentences or learning Latin or a foreign langauge helpes in understanding English grammar but understanding grammar has to be secondary to developing and promoting reading ability. In my view all liberal arts classes must emphasize with equal measure oral participation, reading, and writing about what one has read (synthesis) in short form (sentences) or a longer form (paragrahs, five paragraph essays or research papers).


But there are as many opinions as there are men and women. There are many roads to Rome. A teacher does what he or she can but must do:
1) No harm.....you have failed if you hurt students or make them hate your subject material
2) do the best one can do and sometimes try new approaches. This is why exchanges with students and other teachers are illiminating. One learns from all sides, one learns by teaching and one learns from other teachers and one learns from students.
3) do what seems to work. We must always do our duty but in my experience there is always time for some individuality. Excessive conformity and a too scrpited approach is deadly to classroom enthusiasm. I love the subject materials I teach and I want to invite my student to consider the value and delight they can take from learning. Yes, there are practical aims in education but education must always be about bigger things and we as teachers must encourage students to be lifelong readers and learners. I tell my students over and over they must learn throughout their lives and they must read throughout their lives otherwise they will be gravely handicapped.

In any case we look foward to reading the exhanges of two very worthy dames of American education. Quid est vertias? What is the truth? It may exist in theory but practically speaking it is very elusive. We can come closer to understand the truth if we approach it from different viewpoints and give all viewpoints serious consideration.

Posted by: Richard "Ricardo" Munro | August

What is a Coolin? A VISION OF LADY LIKE BEAUTY

Subject: RE: The Coolin/chúilfhionn /An Cuilean



Re; what is the Coolin?

The Coolin or chúilfhionn in the old Irish Gaelic spelling –I have seen Cuilean as a Scottish variant is word almost best not translated for modern English –particularly modern PC English - can scarcely capture its poetic and spiritual beauty.


I searched the wide world and found my Coolin; we have shared our lives for 34 years; 25 as husband and wife with three fine children two of whom qualify to be Coolins themselves!!!

Am listening to the Lebeque sisters play a piano due of THERE IS A PLACE FOR US by Bernstein which is very appropriate and exceedingly lovely.



And that is no sae bad! Aye.





Dear Emi-san and friends:



The Coolin means a vision of a beautiful milk-white lady-like maiden of long hair a-curling and a-twinning down upon her shoulders,

Rings of gold upon her fingers and the blush of rose upon her brow!

The Coolin is a vision of womanly softness, constancy, goodness and purity of heart

whose welcome ,like her love, is true and from the heart within;

The Coolin is a maid who blushes and whose warm kiss knows no taint of sin,

For modesty is the true beauty of womankind!



The Coolin’s mouth is without fault and knows not lies nor blasphemies,

Such a maid as the Coolin is worth more than a man’s life!

That every wise man son doth know.

And all journeys end in lovers meeting,

And lucky’s the man who finds his Coolin!

When you have found her

Never let her go.



O tell me sailor who lives upon the sea and ships,

If ship or sea or star is as lovely!

O tell me young shepherd who keeps his flock

If flock or glen or is as lovely!



Many’s the prince would be proud to aspire

To the Coolin but with money you cannot buy her!

Speak to me not of a name great in story!

To win the Coolin is the greatest joy and glory!



-Richard Keith Munro





So that’s the Coolin.


When there cease to be woman of worth like the Coolin the human race is finished Highland Mary would qualify I think as a Coolin.



This is the Irish Gaelic poem. FRANK PATERSON MADE THE DEFINITIVE RECORDING ON THE 20TH CENTURY IN THE ORIGINAL IRISH GAELIC.



I had the very great pleasure of seeing the lovely Mary O’Hara perform this song while she played the harp. She spoke, played and sang with perfect harmony, sweetness, honesty and serenity.



RE: The Coolin/chúilfhionn /An Cuilean



An bhfaca tú an chúilfhionn 's í ag siúl ar na bóithre

Maidin gheal drúchta 's gan smúit ar a bróga?

Is iomaí ógánach súilghlass ag tnúth lena pósadh

Ach ní bhfaigheann siad mo rúnsa

.....ar an gcuntas is dóigh leo.



An bhfaca tú mo spéirbhean lá breá is í ina haonar

A cúl dualach drisleanach go slinneán síos léi?

Mil ar an ógbhean is rós breá ina héadan

'S is dóigh le gach spreasán gur leannán leis féin í.



An bhfaca tú mo bhábán 's í taobh leis an toinn

Fáinní óir ar a méara sí ag réiteach a cinn?

'Sé dúirt an Paorach a bhí ina mhaor ar an loing

Go mb'fhearr leis aige féin í ná Éire gan roinn.

(translation R. MUNRO)

Sawest thou the Coolin a-walkin’ the roads

A morning bright of dew dewy without a smudge on her brogues?

Many’s the young man envious and longing to espouse her

Ach, they won't get my inner-most love

.....no matter what they think!



Sawest thou my beautiful woman, ON fine day when she is alone

Her hair a-curling and a-twining, and a-hanging down about her shoulders?

Sweet young woman with the rosy blush on her brow

And every worthless man hopes she will be his lover.



Sawest thou my bonny young maid beside the sea

Rings of gold upon her fingers she is making up her mind?

Said Skipper Power, master of yon ship,

Far better to win the Coolin herself than Erin entire!

Re: “The Death of Protestant America” by Joseph Bottom FT (Aug/Sept 2008);“America as a Protestant Nation and the Root Causes of Mainline Disease”

Re: “The Death of Protestant America” by Joseph Bottom FT (Aug/Sept 2008)


Dear Sir:
Fascinating, informative and provocative articles by Joseph Bottom and by Mary Eberstadt. This is why I am a loyal subscriber to FIRST THINGS. I find book reviews and articles I would not find anywhere else. It is the only magazine I have that I keep. FIRST THING articles remain useful and readable. Even your poetry is as my Auld Pop would say :”Nae sae bad.; I enjoy some of your translations. Perhaps I will send you some translations of classical Spanish poetry or of Gaelic song.”
***
“America as a Protestant Nation and the Root Causes of Mainline Disease”
By Richard K. Munro 3300 words.
Joseph Bottom says “In truth, all the talk, from the eighteenth century on, of the United States as a religious nation was really just a make-nice way of saying it was a Christian nation—and even to call it a Christian nation was usually just a soft and ecumenical attempt to gloss over the obvious fact that the United States was, at its root, a Protestant nation. Catholics and Jews were tolerated, off and on…”
In my view we need to describe the USA as something different; Churchill called it the “Great Republic”; I do not recall he ever called America (or Britain for that matter) a “Protestant” nation. English-speaking, Yes. Democratic, yes. Enlightened (as opposed to benighted), yes. Connected to Christendom (The Reformation and Rome), Magna Carta and the mother country and its traditions (England or Britain), yes. There may have been anti-Catholic sentiment in the USA –just as there was anti-Semitism- but America was never a “Protestant nation” -in the sense England or Scotland was- with one single established church. In the British Isles, where Test Acts were strictly enforced, prior to Catholic and Jewish emancipation in the 19th century, non jurors, Jews and Roman Catholic, were routinely barred from public life, could not exercise the franchise –unless furtively risking perjury- ,were prohibited from attending or teaching in many schools, from holding rank in the military, or serving as judges. We can say that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland circa 1707-1830 WAS a “Protestant” nation where Jews and Catholics led a precarious existence politically and materially. In this sense the USA has never been a “Protestant” nation nor a “Catholic” nation and nor even a “Christian” nation and I say, thank God for it.
The USA was founded, of course, as a nation composed predominately of Protestant Christian sects but was never truly a “Protestant” nation or a possession merely of Protestant Americans, Alexis de Tocqueville notwithstanding. And as America expanded westward to the Spanish Southwest and became the haven to immigrants from the old world the percentage of Catholics (and Jews) increased.
Father John Carroll, the first Bishop of the Catholic Church in the USA, wrote:
Thanks to genuine spirit and Christianity, the United States have banished intolerance from their system of government, and many of them have done the justice to every denomination of Christians, which ought to be done to them in all, of placing them on the same footing of citizenship, and conferring an equal right of participation in national privileges. Freedom and independence, acquired by the united efforts, and cemented with the mingled blood of Protestant and Catholic fellow-citizens, should be equally enjoyed by all. . . .
Father Carroll was an ardent American patriot and devoted to the American principle of freedom of conscience (what he called “civil tolerance”). Nonetheless, Father McShane has written “That a late eighteenth-century Roman Catholic cleric would support religious liberty so warmly was surprising--even shocking.” But not to people who know the history of Catholicism in the British Isles, Canada and America. In Father Carroll’s sermon “An Address to the Roman Catholics of the United States of North America" (1790), he called for "General and equal toleration, by giving a free circulation to fair argument, is a most effectual method to bring all denominations of Christians to a unity of faith.” Nor did Carroll operate in isolation from other religious persuasions. “No minister of religion, moreover, contributed more to the ecumenical spirit that stamped the early national period than did Carroll. He developed close friendships with almost all the leaders of other denominations.”
Bottum says “even America’s much vaunted religious liberty was essentially a Protestant idea.” There is no question Protestant thinkers and leaders, such as Milton and Roger Williams in particular, contributed to the idea of tolerance and liberty of conscience (though as I recall from Edwin Gaustad even Roger Williams did not trust Catholics with the vote). I think instead the achievement of freedom of conscience was a joint effort of all the religious factions in America, including Catholics and Jews. One of the curious facts of America’s founding is that Catholic immigrants to American (British recusants and others) came to America, settling principally in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Maryland, for religious freedom just as any other Christian or religious sect.
The precarious status of Catholics in the British Isles was exemplified by the martyrs St. Thomas More, St. Edmund Campion and many others less known but with similarly tragic stories. By the 17th century and confirmed by the 18th century there was no chance whatsoever for a Catholic restoration. This led to a complete change of mentality among recusants one in which English-speaking Catholics tolerated mixed marriages and whose hope was not a return to supremacy but for peaceful coexistence and civil equality as a minority in a land dominated by Protestants. The first legislative act of religious tolerance was promulgated in 1649 in the colony of Maryland, a haven for English-speaking Catholics. There is no question that the royal charter of Rhode Island, received by Roger Williams in 1663, was the blueprint of religious freedom for other English colonies as well as being a foundation stone for the First Amendment. Maryland’s Act of Toleration, whatever its limitations- was also an important precursor to the First Amendment. When we add what happened in New York and Pennsylvania legally and pragmatically we have truly a religious freedom crafted by the American experiences of many varied religious sects, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish.
George Washington recognized both Catholic and Jewish individuals were instrumental in America gaining its independence as well as great Catholic nations such as France and Spain. Washington wrote of this in his letter of March 12, 1790” “I presume in your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic past, which you took in the accomplishment of their Revolution and establishment of their Government or the important assistance which they received from a Nation in which the Roman Catholic Faith is professed.” A goodly number of the “international heroes” who fought in Washington’s forces –Lafayette , Kosciusko, Jorge Ferragut (the father of Admiral David Farragut), Commodore Barry –the list is quite long- were Roman Catholic.

Haym Solomon the Jewish financier and interpreter bravely assisted the American cause as a spy at great personal risk. George Washington visited the Touro Synagogue in 1790; when he did so he may have been the first head of state to attend Jewish service since the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem. Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation (August 18, 1790): “I shall always retain a grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced in my visit to Newport…the Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples or an enlarged and liberal policy; a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship….happily the Government of the United States, which gives bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance…May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants.”
Nothing like the Penal Laws ever existed in the United States; the constitution forbad religious tests from the very beginning. Before 1776, Catholics like Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration, were essentially marginalized. American independence meant emancipation for both Catholic and Jews. After the Revolution two of Carroll’s coreligionists Daniel Carroll (of Maryland) and Thomas Fitzsimons (of Pennsylvania) signed the U.S. Constitution, representing 3.6% of the signers.
Many prominent Americans were Roman Catholics, intermarried with Roman Catholics, were close friends of or were related to Roman Catholics in the early national era. James Monroe and Patrick Henry befriended Father John Dubois, a nonjuring French émigré priest –later Bishop of New York- and a close associate of St. Elizabeth Seton. Catholic Mass was celebrated at the State House at Richmond when Monroe and Henry were governors (and probably in their homes as well when Dubois was a guest). Monroe’s daughter Eliza, who had attended Catholic schools in France, was a convert to Catholicism and was allowed to be a close friend and correspondent of Father Dubois. Likewise both of James Monroe’s nephews, Col Jimmy Monroe and Andrew Monroe became adult converts to Catholicism. The two Monroe boys must have attended Mass in the Monroe home with Father Dubois and their aunt as a boy, which says a lot about the tolerance of Mr and Mrs. Monroe (who were Episcopalians) and their acceptance of Catholics as Americans and Christian brethren. Col Jimmy Monroe, a graduate of West Point, was elected to the U.S. Congress. Earlier Col. Jimmy was an aide to General Winfield Scott and he often attended Mass with Gen. Scott’s wife and children who were Catholic . Andrew Monroe, a graduate of the US Naval Academy, became a convert in China. He later became a Jesuit priest and a faculty member at St. Francis Xavier’s College. Francis Scott Key was related by marriage to Roger Taney, the first Roman Catholic Supreme Court judge. Stephen Douglas, the famous Democratic rival to Lincoln, was married to the Adele Cutts, a Roman Catholic and the daughter of James Madison Cutts who was a great-niece of former U.S. First Lady Dolley Madison. Douglas’s son by his first marriage, Robert M. Douglas, raised as a Catholic, became a prominent Republican and was a member of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
The list of prominent officers, judges and politicians of the United States who were Catholic has always been very representative of the percentage of Roman Catholics in the population. The same is true for Jews and other religious and ethnic minorities with the egregious exception until recent times, tragically, of African-Americans. So in that sense though there may have been anti-Catholic feeling among some Americans –just as there was anti-Jewish feeling- Catholics have always been able to operate as full citizens in the United States.
In any case, anti-Catholic feeling as Joseph Bottum has pointed out has diminished primarily due to the ecumenical influence of Vatican II, C.S. Lewis, John Paul II, Protestant ministers like Billy Graham and the Promise Keepers movement (which included Evangelicals and Catholics). Today intermarriage between the denominations is an everyday affair; about 10% of all former Protestants are former Catholics and about 8% of all Catholics are former Protestants. The most virulent anti-Catholic animus is almost unknown today among Evangelical Protestants most of whom consider Catholics to be Christian brethren. Ironically, anti-Catholic prejudice is to be found chiefly among the “tolerant” secular intellectual left, particularly pro-choice “Sangerite” feminists.
Therefore, I believe it correct to say the USA has never been a “Protestant” nation at any time, merely a nation without an established church and with almost complete freedom of religion. But I do understand what Bottum is thinking –in the 19th century and early 20th public life and public schools had a distinct “Protestant” quality or flavor in a way that is no longer the case due to the increased secularization of society. But speaking as a former Catholic educator even American Catholic schools today lack the distinct Catholic quality or flavor that they used to have when the student bodies and faculty were overwhelmingly Catholic.
Now we turn to the nature of “Mainline disease”. Bottum is right –I have known this for years- that old mainline Protestantism is moribund not only in America but in its European homeland. But Catholicism, too , is in trouble, particularly in its ancient European homeland but also elsewhere. Bottum is certainly right to be concerned that the rapid dechristianization of the Europe is contributing to an eroding of Christian roots. At one time countries with large Catholic populations –Ireland, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Poland- reinforced and provided intellectual leadership and continuity for American Catholics. This support and encouragement, with the exception of Poland, has diminished in the past thirty years to next to zero. Most of our foreign pastors come from the Philippines, Africa or India. It has been many years since I have met a young Irish-born priest, for example. When I was a young man I found them all over America and the world.
On the other hand -and I thank God for it- evangelical Protestantism (“Bible Christianity”)- remains vital in many areas both in the United States and in third world countries particularly Africa, the Philippines and South America.
“Mainline disease” essentially boils down to a church that requires nothing from its parishioners gradually loses its appeal, its prestige and its raison d’être. Even the Bible doesn’t have intellectual prestige anymore. When was the last time in a TV interview for a general interest news program anyone made single a biblical allusion? Compare McCain’s or Obama’s speeches to the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Biblical illiteracy must be at historic highs. This is what my father called the “pale Anglican” syndrome; so pale that even marriage or baptism no longer takes place. To be such a Christian is to be a Christian in name only, by heritage only, a birth certificate Christian or a descendant of a Christian. At one time this seemed to be an Anglican condition but now the “mainline disease” has spread and continues to spread to countries like Spain and Italy and through every Christian denomination to some degree.
What is the primary cause for this “mainline disease” whose symptoms are as Kenneth Woodward has pointed out consist of “running out of money and members and meaning.”? As Joseph Bottum says part of the reason is the emergence of “mere religion”. In this new “tolerance” there is the danger of indifferentism. There is no question that I feel closer as a Christian in my attitudes towards marriage, abortion and family to Evangelical Protestants, Missouri Synod Lutherans, Mormons and Orthodox Jews than I do to ‘liberal’ (or nominal Catholics). I am aware of common ground on such issues -we all read the Bible and C.S. Lewis- but I am not unaware of our theological differences.
We have to go deeper to find the root cause of “mainline disease.” As a young man I met dozens of attractive, well-educated American women but there was, usually, a deep chasm that separated us despite the fact that we were Americans and usually shared the same public school education. It took some time and some pain to discover the reason why. Christianity –learned at home, in church in my private life- was very important to me and was an indispensable part of our heritage. I remember my father explaining the most Gaelic surnames of Ireland and Scotland were Christian surnames recalling the great age of the Irish and British missionaries. Archibald MacLeish or Anne Lorne Gillies were not just names; the both meant ‘devotee of Jesus’. MacTaggart meant “son of the priest”. MacCallum meant “devotee of St. Columba”. McBride meant “devotee of St. Bridget”. I knew who the founder of Glasgow was (St. Mungo) and his legends and my family helped raise money to build the St. Columba Cathedral in Oban (Scotland) where my father’s mother was born. I also knew my clan stood by Mary of Guise and Mary Queen of Scots. So Faith was the cornerstone of my individual and family life; it was not for many of the people I met in the big city. Theirs were primarily materialistic concerns. I remember hearing some acquaintances who were happily married but childless for more than fifteen years say that they never intended to have children and didn’t care one way or another if their line or family name carried on. I have to admit I was flabbergasted; they were postmodernists and they considered my views, “medieval”. Certainly never the twain shall meet. The American women I met, college educated women in New York area and East Coast, had different ideas, different values and even a different faith such as Feminism, environmentalism and other isms. Most were indifferent to religion and the ideal of raising a family. The less I say about modern feminism (Simon De Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinham) the better. Suffice it to say that I believe radical feminism is inimical to a happy and balanced life and I think to Christianity (or religion in general) itself.
Radical feminism involves a huge change in moral standards. In most churches –this was and is a great weakness of both Catholicism and mainline churches - wives, sisters and mothers were and are the backbone of the church. When young women ceased to be actively involved in church life, delaying marriage and child bearing, sometimes indefinitely, the social, religious and educational life of a parish or church community just withered away. This new attitude towards sex and marriage profoundly changes culture. At one time it was presumed that modesty was a good thing for a woman; indeed there is an old saying that says “modesty is the true beauty of woman.” Today many American women are sexual aggressors. When I was a young man it was considered bad manners to curse in front of children or ladies. Now many young “ladies” use language that would make a sailor blush and they seem proud of it. This is, in my view, a very unfortunate and unbecoming side effect of ‘liberation’.
Be that as it may, everyone will agree that the new moral standards of the 1960’s were at loggerheads with traditional values. This new morality emanated from the college faculties; mainline churches, Episcopalian, Methodist, and Presbyterian and so forth just followed along. The Pill, condoms and diaphragms are handed out like aspirin or M&Ms. What would have been statutory rape in 1959 –sex between a 20 year old co-ed and a professor-is just another hook up. It is not unusual for an attractive female co-ed to “date” (meaning having sex with) both classmates and professors. Perhaps this happened in 1959 too but young women did not boast about it. Today it is common for young women to publicly boast about their sex lives, what sexual experiences they have had, when they lost their virginity, even how many abortions they have had. This kind of talk used to be reserved for locker rooms or dark smoky bars. Not anymore. This is why the Monica Lewinksy affair meant nothing to millions of Americans. She was over 21 it was just some fun and some on the job consensual sex (or sexual contact).
For millions of American women birth control and the right to abortion have become absolute personal rights that are not negotiable. When this sort of Sangerite feminism takes hold of the women of a church community that community is doomed. Marriage rates and birth rates plummet. Family life as I knew it disappears. The deep love, friendship and close relationships I had with my mother and grandparents disappear. Gone with it is the home-schooling in literature, religion, culture, history and music, the home cooked meals, the family recipes, home-made costumes, family prayers, family outings, family sing-a-longs, and family celebrations. I don’t call this liberation. I call it sexual suicide.
This new way of sexual liberation –which clears women from the homes and postpones having children- whether people like to hear it or not, is an unsustainable way of life. The disintegration of the family is the root cause of the “Mainline disease.” As Mary Eberstadt has written, Humanae Vitae, was in fact Cassandra-like.


http://www.khsd.k12.ca.us/west/Staff%20Pages/Munro/munro.htm
Richard ("Ricardo") MUNRO, MA (Spanish Literature)
Teacher of English, history and Spanish
Bilingual Certificate of Competence (BCLAD)
Adjunct Faculty (AP Reader) ETS
Master Catechist (New Wine) , Diocese of Fresno.
West High School (Kern HS District)
Home of the Vikings
1200 New Stine Rd
Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 832-2822
fax (661) 831-5606

The Vindication of Humane Vitae” (FT Aug/Sept/ 2008 “Of Pimps, Planned Parenthood and Humanae Vitae”)

By Richard K. Munro

2100 words.

It is very interesting to me that Mary Eberstadt’s “The Vindication of Humanae Vitae” followed Bottom’s article “The Death of Protestant America” because you have there the root cause for the collapse of the mainline churches (including the Catholics in European countries where the Pill and the 1960’s has arrived). It is refreshing to me to read Albert Mohler, an Evangelical Southern Baptist, criticize artificial birth control, particularly the Pill. In my view he is exactly right when he says “I cannot imagine any development in human history, after the Fall, that has had a great impact on human beings than the Pill…”
Once again I am closer to him than I am to “Mainline” Christians (generally very liberal) or indifferent cafeteria Catholics. I frankly admit that of all Catholic teachings Humane Vitae was one that I did not defend. Why? For one reason the women I knew, secular, Protestant and Catholic were overwhelmingly and strongly against it. Mary Eberstadt is very right when she says:” contraceptive sex…is the fundamental social fact off our time” as is” the fierce and widespread desire to keep it.” I had to survive, have friends, not antagonize by professors or bosses so I kept a low profile. I still remain diplomatic but I am braver and more outspoken now because I am not looking for a mate nor competing for a job.
Mary Eberstadt lists the four trends predicted by Humanae Vitae: “a general lowering of moral standards throughout society; a rise in infidelity; a lessening of respect for women by men; and the coercive use of reproductive technologies by governments.” Anthony Burgess predicted the cheapening of sex and the breakdown of society into “ultra violence” in his book Clockwork Orange. I will never forget what the main character calls sex: “the old in and out”. For many young men that’s all sex is today. Many American men, too, have been spoiled and corrupted by the sexual revolution. A constant complaint I hear from nice young women is that young men (high school and college aged) can’t be bothered to date girls who don’t “give out.” These men, they say, are interested primarily in easy hook-ups without any romance, friendship or commitments. It is possible, however, that fear of AIDS and STDs is making some young Americans more cautious.
Yes, the joys of childhood are nothing as compared to the joys of adultery! In my experience artificial birth control is no anywhere near 90% or 99% effectiveness rates touted by its proponents. Perhaps mature, married adults could achieve these numbers but the reality is young adults and adolescents often lack the wisdom and discipline to use contraceptives properly. The result is a skyrocketing rate of STD infections, more illegitimacy and more abortion. For many people today abortion is just another form of artificial birth control. For this reason alone Planned Parenthood is a misnomer; it should be rechristened “Planned Promiscuity and VD Inc.”
I was always very family oriented and close to my family. To me marriage meant openness to children. My father and mother taught me “never to date a girl who would not make a good mate.” But the American women I knew seemed to have no interest in marriage; that was something they would do much later, after age 30. After a while I stopped dating English-speaking women all together; between 1973 and 1982 at least 95 percent of my dates were with non-native English speaking women (this was easy to do since I lived in New York or Europe). One virtue these non Anglophone women had, besides tending to be more feminine, was they didn’t resort to vulgar Anglo-Saxon expletives –most considered them immodest and bad manners. Though I was not Latin or Hispanic I felt I had more in common with them than I did with my English-speaking female classmates at school who were almost totally given over to Planned Parenthood, the Pill and Total Emancipation (which included the right to curse freely). That wasn’t for me. Though I didn’t realize it at the time that Catholic world I knew in Europe 1964-1980 would soon vanish. Now I hardly recognize the places I knew and few of the children or our friends or relatives are baptized let alone regular church goers. The ‘60’s have definitely arrived in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Ireland.
But I was lucky; I married wonderful girl raised in that lost Catholic world. For the first time in my life I knew a girl who knew more lives of saints than I did. She was the widow’s nut brown daughter and a woman who liked hymns, Rodrigo’s Concierto Aranjez, opera and Spanish Zarzuela. She even had a record of Amazing Grace on the pipes. She liked books and poetry but did not have –it was possible in those days- a single word of English. She was the convent educated granddaughter of a country doctor and the niece of a nun. We had a very traditional and old fashioned courtship and it was a lot of fun for us and for her family. It was a relief that on matters of religion, marriage and family we were it total agreement! When we married she made a handmade bright green woolen shamrock for my lapel and sewed it on top our ancient clan tartan; the other side had the symbols and slogans of her Spanish home town. As a boy I had wanted to get married in a kilt with a piper but as a man I wore a blue suit (with a tartan tie) and for Spanish guitars (I have no regrets).
There is no question my wife was much more strongly pro-life than I was at the time and has helped shape through prayer, teaching and discussion my views and the views of our children. We have been happily married for 26 years and we have three pro-life, pro-family and perfectly bilingual Catholic children. Though my wife and I came from different language traditions we shared the most important things: our family values and a deep and abiding faith in God. There is no question we felt we were children of the West, children of Christendom. The differences in our nationality were not that important. Nonetheless on August 4, 2008 my wife will take the oath of citizenship as an American because America is her country now as well as mine and her children’s.
As I said, I have never been a vociferous advocate of abortion rights but neither have I been in the past strongly and openly pro-life. After I saw the film BELLA with my wife I had a complete change of mind. I admit sheepishly that as a catechist I have appeased the youth who at times mock and flout the Catholic Church’s openly even during their catechism. The siren call of sexual pleasure, once tasted, is, I think for young people an irresistible temptation. I suppose I felt that Humanae Vitae and all it stood for may have been the cause of true honor but it was a forlorn hope and for society a lost cause. Now, I have changed my views. I am beginning to think that the traditional morality espoused by Humanae Vitae is the only hope of America (and the West in general). Demography will decide the destiny of nations, language families and faith traditions.
I am not laughing. I am teaching and above all I am praying. And I pray to God my own children spurn the Sangerite doctrines that dominate the colleges. My single greatest worry is that my children, who are all in college or soon will be, might be ‘turned’ in college by their peers, the music they listen to, or by their professors. But there is a great difference between today and 1965. In 1965 the Sexual Revolution caught many parents completely unaware; today concerned parents are aware of the evil in the world (and in school dormitories). So they encourage safer paths such as living off campus in an apartment with close friends. It is not a secret that I would no sooner trust my daughters to the co-ed dorms of most colleges than I would trust a pimp on 42nd street. I know that schools and colleges are not necessarily on our side in fact they may be virtually enemy institutions whose values are completely at odds with Catholicism or traditional minded Christianity. Many parents are better prepared, more skeptical and much more cautious than my parent’s generation. We do not want to lose our children to the sly forces of evil. We know who those diabolical forces are. It is they who undermine marriage and traditional values and who mock Humanae Vitae. It is they who desire to separate women form men and foment hatred and distrust between the two sexes instead of harmony. It is they who promote promiscuity, a culture of death, “planned” un-parenthood and non-traditional lifestyles.
I pray to God that one day in the near future I will attend the marriage of each of my children. Soon thereafter I will be surrounded by a goodly number of my own grandchildren. I pray for to be there for important milestones such as baptisms, ball games and school graduations and God-willing even their marriage. As I am in good health and reasonably young I have a better chance at this than many of my “with-it” contemporaries for the simple reason is when child bearing is delayed until almost middle age it is more likely the grandparents will not survive to see their grandchildren. That is very sad and it has a deletrious societal and educational effect. It was a very happy thing for us and for my children that all of them got to know and love and learn from three of their grandparents. To this very day my son talks about the trips we all took together, the ball games we saw, the games we played, the meals we ate, the realia and pictures of two World Wars, the books from my father’s library, the visits to Washington, D.C., Arlington cemetery; the movies and actors “grandpop” liked –Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Robert Montgomery and Ingrid Bergman were great favorites. My father actually saw Babe Ruth play; he saw Clark Gable in person; he saluted and exchanged words with General MacArthur; he saw movies in Manila with Commander Robert Montgomery; he saw Leslie Howard AND Bogart on the stage; he corresponded with Gilbert Highet. My son got to know his grandfather as good man, a brave man, a man of honor, a wise man. My son came to understand why his grandfather was so respected, so honored and so loved and he cherishes the relationship he had with his grandfather as I cherished my relationship with my father’s father. Then there were the songs my mother sang; the languages our people knew and the places where they lived. “How sweet was then my mother’s voice in the martyr’s psalm!” If you don’t have close continuity between the generations all that is lost. One might as well be an orphan. It is good to learn and remember the people you came from.
There is no question in my mind that belief and action -both benevolent and evil- often go hand in hand. The Great Teacher said: “You shall know them by their fruits” (Mathew 7:16) I pray to God often that my children will be delivered from evil and so often read to myself and to them Psalm 127:
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

“Aye! ‘S truth!!!” , my Auld Pop would have said. He was, by our standards, an uneducated man, but he was wise as he was brave and loyal. He often said: “You can’t just make up your rules as you go along. “Whom God teaches not, man cannot teach” . Wisdom and humility come with knowledge of God. Remember always to DREAD GOD, to REVERENCE UNTO GOD. That is the first thing. Then be a man of honor and a man of your word. If you remember these things will not go far wrong. Aye! ” I have not forgotten. NE OBLIVISCARIS.
Too many think today: “we are wise and know more than all the previous generations before us”. So they dismiss Humanae Vitae as just meaningless nonsense. That really is a laugh.

http://www.khsd.k12.ca.us/west/Staff%20Pages/Munro/munro.htm
Richard ("Ricardo") MUNRO, MA (Spanish Literature)
Teacher of English, history and Spanish
Bilingual Certificate of Competence (BCLAD)
Adjunct Faculty (AP Reader) ETS
Master Catechist (New Wine) , Diocese of Fresno.
West High School (Kern HS District)
Home of the Vikings
1200 New Stine Rd
Bakersfield, CA 93309
(661) 832-2822
fax (661) 831-5606

NO WOMAN IS AN ISLAND.............. ................ INGRID BERGMAN ............ FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

INGRID BERGMAN aged 27 during the filming of FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS circa July 1942

She won three Oscars. A Tony and two Emmy’s

JOHN DONNE:

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

These famous words by John Donne were not originally written as a poem - the passage is taken from the 1624 Meditation 17, from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and is prose. The words of the original passage are as follows:

John Donne
Meditation 17
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee..."









¿Por quién doblan las campanas? Argentina / Mexico / Spain
Pour qui sonne le glas Canada (French title) / France
Wem die Stunde schlägt Austria / West Germany
Gia poion ktypa i kabana Greece
Hvem ringer klokkerne for? Denmark
Kenelle kellot soivat Finland
Klockan klämtar för dig Sweden
Per chi suona la campana Italy
Por Quem os Sinos Dobram Brazil


For Whom the Bell Tolls NEW YORK PREMIERE 14 July 1943;
Swedish premiere 28 April 1944.
Spanish premier 1978 (it was banned by Franco)

If you look carefully you can see a young and very skinny Yvonne De Carlo in the Spanish cafe scene!

GARY COOPER ROBERT JORDAN (Roberto; El Ingles)

Ingrid Bergman ... María
Akim Tamiroff ... Pablo
Arturo de Córdova ... Agustín (violent)
Vladimir Sokoloff ... Anselmo (guide)
Mikhail Rasumny ... Rafael (Gypsy)
Fortunio Bonanova ... Fernando (calm)
Eric Feldary ... Andrés (courier to Gen. Golz)
Victor Varconi ... Primitivo (lookout)
Katina Paxinou ... Pilar WON OSCAR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS; famous Greek stage actress
Joseph Calleia ... El Sordo
Lilo Yarson ... Joaquin
Alexander Granach ... Paco
Adia Kuznetzoff ... Gustavo
Leonid Snegoff ... Ignacio
Leo Bulgakov ... General Golz
Duncan Renaldo ... Lt. Berrendo
Frank Puglia ... Captain Gomez
Pedro de Cordoba ... Colonel Miranda
Michael Visaroff ... Staff officer
Martin Garralaga ... Captain Mora
Jean Del Val ... The Sniper
John Mylong ... Colonel Duval (as Jack Mylong)
Feodor Chaliapin Jr. ... Kashkin (as Feodor Chaliapin)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maxine Ardell ... Cafe girl (uncredited)
John Bleifer ... Peasant who flails González (uncredited)
Dick Botiller ... Sergeant (Elias' man) (uncredited)
Yakima Canutt ... Young cavalryman (uncredited)
Eduardo Ciannelli ... (uncredited)
Harry Cording ... Man who flails the mayor (uncredited)
Franco Corsaro ... Elias' man (uncredited)
George Coulouris ... André Massart (uncredited)
Michael Dalmatoff ... Mayor Benito García (cliff victim) (uncredited)
Marjorie Deanne ... Cafe girl (uncredited)

Yvonne De Carlo ... Girl in cafe (uncredited)
William Edmunds ... Soldier #1 (uncredited)
Lynda Grey ... Cafe girl (uncredited)
Soledad Jiménez ... Guillermo's wife (uncredited)
Christopher King ... Cafe girl (uncredited)
Alice Kirby ... Cafe girl (uncredited)
Frank Lackteen ... Elias' man (uncredited)
Louise La Planche ... Cafe girl (uncredited)
Manuel López ... Civil Guard (uncredited)
Antonio Molina ... Guillermo (cliff victim) (uncredited)
Ernesto Morelli ... Civil Guard (uncredited)
Alberto Morin ... Soldier #2 (uncredited)
Mayo Newhall ... Ricardo (cliff victim) (uncredited)
Manuel París ... Officer of Civil Guards shot by Pablo (uncredited)
Marcella Phillips ... Cafe girl (uncredited)
Pedro Regas ... Soldier #3 (uncredited)
Tito Renaldo ... Young sentry from Anselmo's village (uncredited)
Luis Rojas ... Drunkard who flails Guillermo (uncredited)
Armand Roland ... Julian (horseman killed by Roberto) (uncredited)
Konstantin Shayne ... Karkov (uncredited)
George Sorel ... Bored sentry reading newspaper (uncredited)
Robert Tafur ... Faustino Rivero (handsome cliff victim) (uncredited)
José Luis Tortosa ... Civil Guard (uncredited)
Trini Varela ... Spanish singer (Madrid cafe) (uncredited)

Budget
$3,000,000 (estimated)


Rentals
$7,100,000 (USA)


Filming Dates
July 1942 - October 1942 JUST AFTER CASABLANCA (1942)





I like Gary Cooper and I like the Spanish setting. Hemingway had Gary Cooper in mind even before he wrote the original book (as per Cooper's daughter). The character is a composite of a Spanish professor whom Hemmingway knew in Spain and Cooper who was from Montana like Robert Jordan.




I love the musical score from VICTOR YOUNG (two OSCARS; he did the music to the QUIET MAN,AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS -probably his most famous sountrack, RIO GRANDE (John Ford),Johnny Guitar (a classic western with Joan Crawford). He also did the soundtrack for the SANDS OF IWO JIMA and died Nov 10 1956 (the Marine Corps Anniversary). He won his Oscar postuhomously.

GREAT QUOTE from Ingrid Bergman:(she had been gang raped by nationalist rebels)

In spite of all the things that were done to me...I never kissed a man until you...and now there are only three days and three nights!

ROBERTO Are you afraid?
Maria: Not now. I love you, Roberto. Always remember. I love you as I loved my father and mother, as I love our unborn children, as I love what I love most in the world, and I love you more. Always remember.
ROBERTO I'll remember.
Maria: Nothing can ever part us now, can it?
ROBERTO Nothing, Maria.



FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS was Ingrid Bergman' 's first Technicolor film.


Ingrid Bergman was in her late 20’s and at the height of her beauty and charm.

Bergman could speak Swedish (her native language), German (her second language; her mother was German) English (learned when brought over to United States but she always had a slight Swedish accent) Italian (one of her husband was Italian) French (learned formally from teachers.

In addition, she acted in each of these languages at various times on the stage or in film which is really remarkable.

I don’t think any other great actress even comes close in this regard.

She was gorgeous as a young woman but she was not primarily a skinny model type. She had three children (two with the director Robert Rosselini) and really by her late 30’s and 40’s she was very full figured.

She lost some weight for Anastasia (1956)that she put on during her Italian years but by the time she made INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS (1958) she was quite middle aged and (by Hollywood standards) fat.

The Original book on which INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS was called the “Little Woman” because Glady Alyward as so small and thin (only about 100 pounds!) so the had to find a new title for the film because there was nothing little about Ingrid . I think she was 5 ‘ 10 or 5 ‘ll and even in her prime probably weighed at least 145.
That film was Robert Donat's final film. His last lines were "I think we shall never meet again. Farewell." He played the part of a roguish Mandarin who converts to Christianity in the end.

In Ingrid's later films I am sure she was not 200 but 175 or more.
She was not a small woman. BUT A GREAT ACTRESS and a mother of three children.

My Auld Pop would have said "yon's nae a paltry woman!"

He always said 'paltry women wadna survive a Highland winter until Easter."


I like Gary Cooper too and of course this is the only book and film I know where the hero is an American Spanish teacher. I love Hemingway's novel too of course.

In the film Greek actress Katrerina Paxinou one the Oscar for best supporting actress as the matronly earthy Pilar.

See the uncut version and read the book or at least scenes of the book on which the film was based.

Amazingly there has never been a CD of the soundrack but I have an old mono LP of the soundtrack from the fifties.

Of all the Hemingway films this was the closest to his own work.

Ingrid was a great favorite of my parents and they knew her daughter Pia Lindstrom socially (she was a TV announcer in New York in the 1960’s and 1970’s). My mother could speak several languages fluently including Swedish and German.

Pia would go to all the plays and operas and fund raisers etc. She was almost as tall and beautiful as her mother EXCEPT she was very thin and trim all the times we saw her.

Of course CASABLANCA is probably Bergman's most famous movie and I like it but it is NOT my favorite Bogart or Bergman movie.

My favorite Bogart film ("Bumphrey Gocart" was our affectioate nickname for him)is probably PETRIFIED FOREST and FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS (and Inn of the Sixth Happiness) are my favorite Bergman movies.


Long live Ingrid the Berg (the Mountain)as my father used to call her.

BEAUTY 'TIS LIKE THE RAINBOW
WHEN THE SHOWER IS PAST IT'S GLORY IS GONE
BUT BEAUTY REMAINS FOR THE BARD
HE SEES HER IN YOUTH,
UNCHANGED AND UNMARRED
And he loves her all the more!

(Richard K. Munro 1955- )