To be fair, the average horse was much larger then. And probably more
docile. I have had a tiny bit to do with Clydesdales and when they wish to
stop, they are stopped. Composing on horseback might have been possible if
Dobbin were dozing in a field... But at a canter? Unlikely, unless one rode
in circles, yelling each line to Baldrick at a pass...
Alison - a champion blade and equestrienne?! Could one BE more suited to
writing?
Caleb (who works in what is 'affectionately' known as Gymkhana Corner within
the ABC...)
On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 2:52 PM, Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> It's the actual physical writing on horseback I can't get my head
> around. He must have had a horse with the temperament of a table.
>
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 11:47 AM, Sally Evans
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > I find composing on horseback very credible because I often compose while
> > driving. Of course you cant write anything down until you stop!
> > Sally Evans
> > http://www.poetryscotland.co.uk
> > http://groups.msn.com/desktopsallye
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Prince"
> > <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 2:06 AM
> > Subject: Re: composing on horseback
> >
> >
> >> Sorry, all; I forgot to credit the source I've just quoted. It's John
> >> Aubrey [1626-1697], _The Natural History of Wiltshire_, Pt II, Chapter
> >> VIII,
> >> "The Downes" [Salisbury Plaines].
> >> Phillip Sidney died in 1586; his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke died
> in
> >> 1621.
> >>
> >> Judy
> >>
> >>
> >> 2008/8/25 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>
> >>
> >>> Candice
> >>>
> >>> would Sir Pip actually known about Beowulf.? Chaucer, Gower, yes, but
> >>> that? To me, the whole thing smells of Elizabethan publicity stunt
> >>>
> >>> PR began a long time ago.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> 2008/8/26 MC Ward <[log in to unmask]>:
> >>> > I wonder if Sydney et al. weren't parodying the Beowulf sequence
> where
> >>> the scribe composes on horseback as Hrothgar and Beowulf go in search
> of
> >>> Grendel's mother. I say "composes" because that term allows for both
> >>> unlettered and literate poets. This one is composing in his head as he
> >>> rides
> >>> along on his honorific horse, knowing that whatever way the match goes
> he
> >>> need only to follow and do some rearranging of the action at the end of
> >>> the
> >>> day.
> >>> >
> >>> > Candice
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> David Bircumshaw
> >>> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> >>> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
> >>> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> >>> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
> >>>
> >>
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
>
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