Connections

 

It has often appeared strange to me how things can be connected. One thing does indeed lead to another. As Freddie Mercury would have probably agreed, "It's a kind of magic".

Take the book I have just finished reading today - "The Goshawk" by T.H. White. I decided to read it because it meant and still means so much to my significant friend Richard Hines. He often refers to it.

He read it when he was in his late teens and it was this book that inspired him to acquire and "train" his own bird of prey inasmuch as a bird of prey can ever be trained.  Richard had no means of acquiring a goshawk so instead, balanced on a ladder, he surreptitiously took a young kestrel from the ruins of  Tankersley Old Hall just north of Sheffield and through that bird learnt the ancient art of falconry.

His older brother, Barry, observed Richard's new hobby and turned what he had seen into the basis of his famous novel, "A Kestrel for a Knave" which later became "Kes". It was first published in 1968 and afterwards became an iconic film which still resonates with the British public today.

Though Richard is poorly and housebound these days, his face still lights up when he talks about his own kestrel - also called "Kes" - and his involvement in making the film. It was a special time in his life. Another memory that never fails to illuminate his face concerns his visit to T.H. White's rundown and isolated gamekeeper's cottage in Buckinghamshire in the 1990s.

It was here that Terence Hanbury White attempted to train a goshawk in the late 1930s. His book, "The Goshawk" reveals the difficult process involved, the commitment required, the sleepless nights and the trial and error approach he was obliged to take because there was no one he could call upon for guidance.

 Just to give you a taste, here are two short extracts from the book:-

What a bursting heart of gratitude and triumph as the ravening monster slowly paced down the arm with gripping steps and pounced upon his breakfast! The rest of the day was a glow of pleasure, a kind of still life in which the sun shone on the flowers with more than natural brilliance, giving them the high lights of porcelain.

&

It happened like this in the world. Old things lost their grip and dropped away; not always because they were bad things, but sometimes because the new things were more bad, and stronger.

White's life often seemed troubled and living in an isolated cottage with a rare hawk appealed to him because this arrangement provided a welcome retreat from the world. He was also something of a genius  - very knowledgeable about Shakespeare, England's medieval history and Arthurian legends. Did you ever see the Disney film , "The Sword in the Stone"? It was based upon a book of the same name - by T.H. White!

So yes - it's funny how things can be connected - like links in a chain. Without "The Goshawk" there would have been no "Kes" and I would never have met Richard Hines and talked with him for hours about his life, his memories of his kestrel and his brother Barry. And I would never had to present or "teach" "Kes" to hundreds of children in the three South Yorkshire schools that I worked in.

T.H.White (1906-1964)