Little rays of moonshineHerbert, A. P. (Alan Patrick)
General
Little rays of moonshine
Herbert, A. P. (Alan Patrick)
English essays -- 20th century; English wit and humor
_Chorus._ Gwine to run, etc.
Over the largest fence they bound,
Doo-dah, doo-dah,
Things exploding all around!
Doo-dah, doo-dah day!
One fine day dat hoss will burst,
Doo-dah, doo-dah,
But little old DAVE he’ll _walk_ in first,
Doo-dah, doo-dah day!
_Chorus._ Gwine to run, etc.
Once again, merely written down, the words do _not_ thrill, but I hope
none of the parties will definitely reject these hymns till they have
heard them actually sung: if necessary I will give a trial rendering
myself.
The other day, when we were playing charades and had to act L, we did
_Lloyd George and the Coalition_; and the people who were acting the
Coalition sang the above song with really wonderful effect. It is true
that the other side thought we were acting _Legion and the Gadarene
Swine_, but that must have been because of something faulty in our
make-up. The sound of this great anthem was sufficiently impressive to
make one long to hear the real Coalition shouting it all along Downing
Street. It is a solo with chorus, you understand, and the Coalition
come in with a great roar of excitement and fervour on _doo-dah!
doo-dah!_
Yes, I like that.
The Art of Drawing
It is commonly said that everybody can sing in the bathroom; and this
is true. Singing is very easy. Drawing, though, is much more difficult.
I have devoted a good deal of time to Drawing, one way and another;
I have to attend a great many committees and public meetings, and at
such functions I find that Drawing is almost the only Art one can
satisfactorily pursue during the speeches. One really cannot sing
during the speeches; so as a rule I draw. I do not say that I am an
expert yet, but after a few more meetings I calculate that I shall know
Drawing as well as it can be known.
The first thing, of course, is to get on to a really good committee;
and by a good committee I mean a committee that provides decent
materials. An ordinary departmental committee is no use; generally
they only give you a couple of pages of lined foolscap and no white
blotting-paper, and very often the pencils are quite soft. White
blotting-paper is essential. I know of no material the spoiling of
which gives so much artistic pleasure--except perhaps snow. Indeed, if
I was asked to choose between making pencil-marks on a sheet of white
blotting-paper and making foot-marks on a sheet of white snow I shall
be in a quandary.
Much of the best committees from the point of view of material are
committees about business which meet at business premises--shipping
offices, for choice. One of the Pacific Lines has the best white
blotting-paper I know; and the pencils there are a dream. I am sure
the directors of that firm are Drawers; for they always give you two
pencils, one hard for doing noses, and one soft for doing hair.
[Illustration: Fig. 1]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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