In 1966 when I was at law school we had the privilege of being addressed by Lord Denning who was visiting for a Law Conference. His speech was inspiring and Denning was at the height of his powers. Now there was an activist Judge if there ever was one.
He recited the last verse of the "Reeds of Runnymede" which remained etched in my memory.
I did my own recitation in 2019 when we made a pilgrimage to the meadow. Kipling sure had an ear and a pen for capturing important elements.
Wonderful reflections on the works of a complete genius, thank you. I’m 3/4 through Biggar’s book and whilst I was already part of the pro-Brit flock, it has been an excellent read. Well researched and he’s not ashamed to promote his perspective (yet offers fair balance throughout). I’ll be very interested to read your take, in particular with regard to the role of British exporting their ‘worldview’. I’d aver the Judeo-Christian worldview is the pivotal factor for improving quality of life across the globe. Then and today. Call me a humble religious ‘supremacist’ I guess.
ps I love ‘The Reeds of Runnymede’ which I hope appeals to you as a leading legal light.
Kipling is like others who've been pilloried for their jingoistic writings but like many here at present, with respect to the Treaty in particular, there is a wilful blindness to historical context. There's no nuance in the application of critical theory/social justice tenets: it's either black or white, oppressed or oppressor.
Great article, David. Like others I am currently reading Biggar's book.
Your reflections on Kipling, particularly Norman and Saxon, called to my mind this, which I read in the Telegraph and took a note of.
Mrs Badenoch, a staunch opponent of identity politics, said her election as Tory leader showed “it doesn’t matter who you are” in Britain.
“I think that the best thing will be when we get to the point where the colour of your skin is no more remarkable than the colour of your eyes or the colour of your hair,” she told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“We live in a multi-racial country, and that is great, but we have to work very hard to make sure it doesn’t become something divisive, where people see themselves as part of groups rather than all being British.
“So when I hear people say ‘isn’t this remarkable, we have a black female leader of the Conservative Party’, I’m glad because it shows that my country and my party are actually places where it doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like – it’s about what the offer is.”
ANOTHER ARTICLE
Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent East, shared a tweet which said Badenoch represented “white supremacy in blackface”.
“If a white person had those views,” Badenoch says, “they’d probably be in prison, or would be receiving calls from the police in a way that other people are having for tweets.
“I also think that it comes from a place of jealousy, that we have been able to do something which they and the so-called progressive party have never been able to do.”....
Butler’s reaction to her victory, she says, also shows that prejudice over the colour of someone’s skin is not limited to white people responding to ethnic minorities. People like Butler, she says, need to “stop bringing race into everything”, because “the colour of my skin is not the thing that I think is interesting. It is what I am saying. And if people are too focused on what I look like, what my gender is, they’re not listening to what I’m saying”.
Wonderful. The topic of 'colonisation' generally ignores the colonisation of Rekohu (the Chatham Islands) and the genocide of the Moriori inhabitants by Taranaki Maori in 1835. Michael King's book Moriori was unflinching about this. While many in our universities pore over our shared history and wring their hands we need to know and include everything - not just the post 1840 land wars.
You may have read Nigel Biggar’s book already; if not, get stuck in. Because his scope is global, diachronically! Enjoy. Ie more than the poor Moriori are “victims” here … Us “white fellahs” are far from the sole oppressors globally and/or diachronically!
It’s best to declare one’s hand: Nigel Biggar & I crossed paths over a common interest decades ago. We again met up when he was here in NZ recently, speaking of his being cancelled by publisher Bloomsbury only to be picked up by William Collins. Yes; his assessment of “the coloniser” covers many such people - globally! So us ‘white fellahs’ are not the only the only ‘invaders’.
Key, if I may, to such as Kipling (whose works my mother bequeathed to me), is the deep, deep enculturation of the Judeo-Christian ethos and worldview among his ilk. He is all too able to walk that mile in another’s moccasin as he’s also looked at the plank in his own eye. Just so, Māori culture and history is itself saturated with its spirituality. And one has to say, assessing those two spiritualities does throw up some marked contrasts.
Thanks to Just Boris for his comment
As to his PS about Kipling's "Reeds of Runnymede"
In 1966 when I was at law school we had the privilege of being addressed by Lord Denning who was visiting for a Law Conference. His speech was inspiring and Denning was at the height of his powers. Now there was an activist Judge if there ever was one.
He recited the last verse of the "Reeds of Runnymede" which remained etched in my memory.
I did my own recitation in 2019 when we made a pilgrimage to the meadow. Kipling sure had an ear and a pen for capturing important elements.
And still when Mob or Monarch lays
Too rude a hand on English ways,
The whisper wakes, the shudder plays,
Across the reeds at Runnymede.
And Thames, that knows the moods of kings,
And crowds and priests and suchlike things,
Rolls deep and dreadful as he brings
Their warning down from Runnymede!
Wonderful reflections on the works of a complete genius, thank you. I’m 3/4 through Biggar’s book and whilst I was already part of the pro-Brit flock, it has been an excellent read. Well researched and he’s not ashamed to promote his perspective (yet offers fair balance throughout). I’ll be very interested to read your take, in particular with regard to the role of British exporting their ‘worldview’. I’d aver the Judeo-Christian worldview is the pivotal factor for improving quality of life across the globe. Then and today. Call me a humble religious ‘supremacist’ I guess.
ps I love ‘The Reeds of Runnymede’ which I hope appeals to you as a leading legal light.
Thanks for your comment.
The review of Biggar's book will be out on Monday.
A reflection on "Reeds" will be subject of a comment
As ever, sanity from you David.
Kipling is like others who've been pilloried for their jingoistic writings but like many here at present, with respect to the Treaty in particular, there is a wilful blindness to historical context. There's no nuance in the application of critical theory/social justice tenets: it's either black or white, oppressed or oppressor.
Great article, David. Like others I am currently reading Biggar's book.
Your reflections on Kipling, particularly Norman and Saxon, called to my mind this, which I read in the Telegraph and took a note of.
Mrs Badenoch, a staunch opponent of identity politics, said her election as Tory leader showed “it doesn’t matter who you are” in Britain.
“I think that the best thing will be when we get to the point where the colour of your skin is no more remarkable than the colour of your eyes or the colour of your hair,” she told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“We live in a multi-racial country, and that is great, but we have to work very hard to make sure it doesn’t become something divisive, where people see themselves as part of groups rather than all being British.
“So when I hear people say ‘isn’t this remarkable, we have a black female leader of the Conservative Party’, I’m glad because it shows that my country and my party are actually places where it doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like – it’s about what the offer is.”
ANOTHER ARTICLE
Dawn Butler, the Labour MP for Brent East, shared a tweet which said Badenoch represented “white supremacy in blackface”.
“If a white person had those views,” Badenoch says, “they’d probably be in prison, or would be receiving calls from the police in a way that other people are having for tweets.
“I also think that it comes from a place of jealousy, that we have been able to do something which they and the so-called progressive party have never been able to do.”....
Butler’s reaction to her victory, she says, also shows that prejudice over the colour of someone’s skin is not limited to white people responding to ethnic minorities. People like Butler, she says, need to “stop bringing race into everything”, because “the colour of my skin is not the thing that I think is interesting. It is what I am saying. And if people are too focused on what I look like, what my gender is, they’re not listening to what I’m saying”.
Wonderful. The topic of 'colonisation' generally ignores the colonisation of Rekohu (the Chatham Islands) and the genocide of the Moriori inhabitants by Taranaki Maori in 1835. Michael King's book Moriori was unflinching about this. While many in our universities pore over our shared history and wring their hands we need to know and include everything - not just the post 1840 land wars.
You may have read Nigel Biggar’s book already; if not, get stuck in. Because his scope is global, diachronically! Enjoy. Ie more than the poor Moriori are “victims” here … Us “white fellahs” are far from the sole oppressors globally and/or diachronically!
It’s best to declare one’s hand: Nigel Biggar & I crossed paths over a common interest decades ago. We again met up when he was here in NZ recently, speaking of his being cancelled by publisher Bloomsbury only to be picked up by William Collins. Yes; his assessment of “the coloniser” covers many such people - globally! So us ‘white fellahs’ are not the only the only ‘invaders’.
Key, if I may, to such as Kipling (whose works my mother bequeathed to me), is the deep, deep enculturation of the Judeo-Christian ethos and worldview among his ilk. He is all too able to walk that mile in another’s moccasin as he’s also looked at the plank in his own eye. Just so, Māori culture and history is itself saturated with its spirituality. And one has to say, assessing those two spiritualities does throw up some marked contrasts.
I look very forward to your review.
Much enjoyed by this descendant of Norman and thus Norseman stock