Dear All,
With due deference to Mr May, this is hardly a new idea. The first
suggestion that JRK might have known something about the Piltdown hoax
seems to date to 1953 (see below) and in 2000, a very new member of the
Society (me!) sent this email to the mailbase.
*To RUDYARD KIPLING JISCMAIL NOVEMBER 2000*
Having observed the Mailbase with due deference for a time, I would like to
set up a hare of my own. It seems that few subjects generate more than two
or three follow-ons. I expect no more for this chase, among such fit and
wily academic hounds...
How far have the origins of "Dayspring Mishandled" been
linked to the Piltdown Man hoax? Publication in 1932 fell well before
Joseph Weiner's unmasking of the fake in 1955, but details do suggest a
connection.
R.K. was a member of the Sussex Archaeological Society,
and knew Samuel Woodhead, the Sussex Public Analyst, who has been keenly
advanced as a conspirator. Arthur Conan Doyle has also been implicated, on
rather more
circumstantial evidence, and was an acquaintance of R.K., though not
perhaps a friend.
Other names to make connections are: Teilhard de
Chardin, John Hewitt (London University), Martin Hinton, A.S. Kennard,
Professor W.J. Sollas, Sir Arthur Keith and (by reputation, at least)
Horace de Vere Cole.
Did Charles Dawson's early death, in the manner of the
pattern on a "print petticoat", forestall a heartless plan to embarrass
him? Are there hidden clues in the tale or its accompanying verse?
*Subsequently:*
Reading my own email on the Mailbase, it occurs to me that there is an
implication that the link between Dayspring Mishandled
and the hoax is original with me. In fact Weiner himself suggested
the connection in 1953.
Reference: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HrKEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA286&lpg=PA286&dq=piltdown+kipling&source=bl&ots=a16ZS51I4z&sig=cr4aFjkKFXsXPNUkjWRnL5wi5cs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj209LQwMDOAhUkM8AKHUbMCikQ6AEILDAC#v=onepage&q=piltdown%20kipling&f=false
(The email received just one amused and suitably dismissive reply).
Roger Lancelyn Green gave the idea short shrift in the Kipling Journal
for March 1973
*http://www.kiplingjournal.com/textfiles/KJ209.txt
<http://www.kiplingjournal.com/textfiles/KJ209.txt>*
In view of Mike Kipling’s mention of the ‘mysterious appearance’ of
Kipling’s name in The Times, Members may also be amused by attempts to find
a code or acrostic:
http://richardhartersworld.com/cri_a/piltdown/blossom.html
<http://richardhartersworld.com/cri_a/piltdown/blossom.html>
Would someone like to offer a note on the subject for the Readers’ Guide?
Best regards,
John
On Sat, Aug 13, 2016 at 4:34 PM, Mike Kipling <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Kipling refers to the Piltdown skull in two letter to Edith Wharton in
> 1923 (Pinney, V, 144 and 150). The context is an impending trip to the
> quarry where the skull was found and but he also refers to reading a book
> which challenges some aspects of the reconstruction, especially the
> jaw-bone.
>
>
>
> However, I tend to agree with Bryan that the puzzle is too obscure, unlike
> the “monkish hymn”. But you never know!
>
>
>
> Incidentally, the first eight names listed under “birthdays’ on the
> opposite page of the Times to the letter also contain all the letters of
> Rudyard Kipling!
>
>
>
> Mike Kipling
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* To exchange information and views on the life and work of Rudyard
> Kipling [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Bryan
> Diamond
> *Sent:* 13 August 2016 09:46
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* "Dayspring Mishandled" theory re Piltdown forgery in "The
> Times"
>
>
>
> A letter in *The Times* from a Roger May from Hants today headed
> "Kipling's Foresight" suggests that in the story "Dayspring Mishandled" RK
> concealed clues to the Piltdown skull forgery. The clues are complex and I
> cannot believe the theory. (Nothing in the NRG re this.
>
> What do the experts think? Anyone know Mr. May?
>
> Bryan Diamond
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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