Recently at this Service held in Westminster Abbey,
the Archbishop of Canterbury said, referring to 'the temperament of courage
or madness': "Among English writers, that unfashionable genius, Rudyard Kipling
understood this better than most: one of his most poignant stories deals with a
demoralised and incompetent regiment shamed into corporate bravery by the wild
courage of its two drummer-boys, two drunken, delinquent teenagers who suddenly
find they can't live with the regiment's collective cowardice and
depression, and self-sacrificially turn a rout into a victory. Kipling makes us
see them with very clear eyes: they are apparently aimless and worhtless lads,
and their bravery has a lot to do with alcohol and bravado-- but, an enormous
but, he makes us see also that they make a real decision, a real and
redemptive choice."
No prizes for guessing that this refers to
"The Drums of the Fore and Aft" [Wee Willie Winkie]
Apart from this, in my opinion, the sermon was a bit 'curate eggish'--good
in parts. And I think that a lot of the VCs and GCs would have left the Service
a little confused! I suppose an Archbishop could never wholly praise bravery in
warfare without qualification.
best wishes,
Jane
