DIARY
DEBORAH DEVONSHIRE The ding-dong correspondence of my sister Nancy and Evelyn Waugh has been ably read on the wireless by Prunella Scales and Timothy West. It reminded me of Eve- lyn's generosity when he was in Paris just after the liberation. (Why was he there? Perhaps he was a liberator; I can't remem- ber.) He bought me a hat which he tried on himself in the shop to make sure. He didn't tell me what the vendeuse thought about that, but French people are keen when it comes to business and a sale is a sale what- ever for or why, so no doubt she was delighted and probably thought all English soldiers wore women's hats when off duty. It was made of white felt with a blue straw brim on which perched two small white stuffed birds. Luckily the Animal Rights people were still in utero or Evelyn would have been lynched for buying it and I for wearing it. Sadly it has gone the way of old hats. Fifty years on it might be revered as a bit of heritage or a historic document, like a Dinky toy or a 1945 bus ticket. Who knows, it could even have found a home in the V&A with the rest of their jumble.
t this time of year I am struck by the
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racist ways of that mild section of our fel- low countrymen — people who feed the birds. They go to great lengths to ensure that only the charming little birds, prefer- able prettily coloured and able to sing later on, get the delicacies provided. The `coun- try' magazines carry advertisements of complicated arrangements which keep out the big, ugly, floppy ones, or any species the bird-table owner doesn't fancy. Yet these same people are mad on raptors of all kinds and even the murderous magpie, but at conveniently far remove. It would be interesting to see their reactions if a spar- row-hawk or a merlin chose to swoop while they happened to be watching and the loved tits, robins and chaffinches were reduced to a flurry of feathers in a split sec- ond. If they saw a pair of magpies hunting a hedge for eggs and nestlings in the spring they would surely be sickened by the sight of the desperate attempts of the parent birds to distract their attention. But people don't see the balance of nature acted out beak and claw, so they follow the fashion, which is to preserve all birds of prey what- ever the cost to the rest. Unless there is a change of heart soon, the bird-tables will no longer provide the pleasure that once they did.
113 mare the difference in pronunciation of English and American. It changes the meaning of words which are spelt the same, so You have to pay attention when listening to someone from the New World and trans-
late as you go. I met a Texan woman the other day who spoke at length about one Korda. I thought she must be too young to have known Sir Alexander of that ilk, then I suddenly twigged it was President Carter she was on about. Gonna meaning going to and wanna for wanting to are easy, but watch out for riders when they are talking about writers and be prepared for a waiter to turn into a wader without warning. So writers ride and waiters wade, which isn't surprising when a dot is a dart and a pot is a part. It happens here too. Last night I heard someone describe the predicament of buttered wives.
0 ur kitchen is being repainted and re- tiled, so a great clearing of decks is going on. Behind a wall of receipt books in the back of a cupboard we found a box of menu cards dating from 1893 to 1939. They are printed or hand-written on stiff white card with gilt edges. Buckingham Palace, Derby House, Seaford House, Londonderry House, Devonshire House, The King's Guard St James's Palace, The Foreign Office and the Astors at 4 St James's Square evidently fed their guests very well. Some cards are tantalisingly anonymous, 'Ajax' from the Ortiz collection o men with mobile phones. giving only the address. Who lived at 66 Brook Street in 1939? She gave a lavish ball supper there on 25 June. And the unknown occupier of 38 Bryanston Square did even better a month earlier. We know the vast number of courses people ate at grand din- ners in Edwardian times, but it is surprising to find such feasts were still going strong till the last war. If you had been invited to Mr Baldwin's farewell dinner at 10 Downing Street on 25 May 1937 you would have eaten Consommé a la Sevigne, Filets de Soles Imperiale, Noisettes d'Agneau Chatelaine, Petits Pois, Pommes nouvelles, Cailles sous la Cendre, Salade de Laitues, Asperges vertes, Sauce Mousseline, Mousse glacee aux Fraises, Frivolites, Dessert and Café, plus five superb wines ending with Grand Fins Bois 1820. The indiscretions induced by so many fine wines would make any prime minister shudder now. And I don't think they would dare offer Frivolites in 1994. The humble grape- fruit was a luxury then. Several dinners started with them, the only English words on the menus except eggs and bacon, for which there is no satisfactory translation into French. They were fried up for break- fast at 1.45 a.m. at every ball.
At an afternoon reception given by His Majesty's Government In The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland for Commanding General Sir Kaiser Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana KBE of Nepal in 1937 the selection of teatime food is a child's dream, or a grown- up's for that matter. The guests were offered ices, cakes, éclairs, five kinds of sandwiches including foie gras, lobster and caviar, petits pains fourths, wine cup and every soft drink imaginable, including The. I would love to know if Sir Kaiser went on to face a seven-course dinner at 8.30 fol- lowed by an immense supper at midnight. A surprisingly extravagant entertainment was a souper de bal given by the Framework Knitters' Company at Goldsmiths' Hall in 1937. That night you could choose from 20 dishes, including consommé, chicken, cut- lets, salmon, lobster, foie gras, quail, duck, chaud froid of more chicken, ham, tongue,
asparagus, salad, compote of fruit, crème brOlOe, chocolate mousse and meringues.
This was supper. You had already eaten dinner. Lastly comes a refreshing reminder of Evelyn Duchess of Devonshire's careful ways. The menu for luncheon after the wedding of her son Charlie Cavendish and Adele Astaire (Fred's sister) at Chatsworth in 1932 lists several dishes, including French Pastries and two more puddings, crossed out. 'Need not have these' is in her handwriting. The Framework Knitters were not so economical.
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