I think that you are right and that this was a howler, but one which Kipling might eventually have spotted himeslf.

The 1917 Macmillan edition of A Diversity of Creatures spells it the same was as the 1966 Centenary Edition – "council". The 1929 4th impresssion of the 1926 Inclusive Verse also has it as "council", but in the Definitive edition of the Verse (1945 reprint) it appears as "counsel".

I don't have an edition of the verse between 1929 and 1945, but if anyone else does, perhaps they could check when "counsel" first appeared to see whether it was Kipling who could have spotted it or a later proofreader.

Yours, David

----- Original Message ----
From: Will Stevens <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, 16 July, 2007 2:36:40 PM
Subject: A howler?

I’m re-reading, with great pleasure, ‘A Diversity of Creatures’, and noticed these lines in ‘The Land’, which refer to Hobden, the eternal country labourer:

Not for any beast that burrows, not for any bird that flies,

Would I lose his large sound council, miss his keen amending eyes.

As far as I can see, where Kipling writes ‘council’, the sense demands ‘counsel’.

With most writers, you wouldn’t be particularly surprised, but Kipling is so careful and precise in his use of language, that you wouldn’t expect such an obvious mistake. Or is it a mistake? Is there any justification for the spelling ‘council’ when it means ‘advice’? I can’t find any in the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, or in various on-line dictionaries which I’ve consulted.

Any thoughts? In case it’s of any relevance, I’m reading the 1966 Centenary Edition of the book.

Will