Freda's Stories
On the Road Again
Bertie struggled up the other side of the ditch; now he was back on the verge of the road. The last time he had tried, a car stopped behind him and someone put him back on the side he had just left. Not only to the side, but right over to the fence in the tall grass.
Stupid person! he grumbled to himself. Surely they could have seen I was heading the other way. I'll never catch Belinda up now, she's a flighty little thing. Just as I was getting to know her. Now there is more traffic. I must get there before twilight time. I know that big ugly mole predator lives over there. I'll wait till the road is quieter.
He settled in a clump of reeds and went to sleep, keeping one eye open for tasty insects. A cat out hunting sniffed around the reeds and found him, but he opened his mouth very wide, and hissed loudly, putting out his blue tongue. The cat backed away and made its way homewards.
A cautious, mature blue-tongued lizard, Bertie was beginning to wonder if a young female was worth making the effort for. He knew tonight and tomorrow would be about the end of her mating time. He was thinking about making it back to the strawberry field on his side of the road, when he saw her scrambling back across the road.
Luckily a car stopped to let her complete the crossing.
'Nothing over there worth having,' she said.
'Come with me,' said Bertie. 'There is a shed in the strawberry field, with soft straw under it for a bed, and we'll have strawberries for breakfast.'
Belinda almost purred as they rubbed noses, and she led the way to the hole in the fence.
William Cowper (real historical personage)
I became interested in William Cowper initially after visiting the lovely market town of Olney in Buckinghamshire. The approach from the south, over the meandering River Ouse, has the impressive view of Olney parish church. With its steeple dominating the surrounding countryside, it is the tallest church spire for miles around, especially remarkable after the square towers of most Bedfordshire churches.
Entering the town by the church is to come into a Market Square, surrounded by large neat Georgian houses and shops. On one side of the square is a museum, containing Olney's claims to fame, its history of lace making and of course the story of the Shrove Tuesday pancake race, this originated in the folklore and was revived in 1948 by the vicar of the time and has since become popular and well known internationally.
William Cowper and John Newton are both commemorated in two rooms of memorabilia, their link being that together they wrote the book of Olney Hymns.
William Cowper was born on November 15th, 1731, in Berkhamstead rectory, where his father was rector. Although his father was strict, he had a very happy childhood up until the age of six, when his mother died and he was sent to a local boarding school. He was very unhappy at this school. Later he went to Westminster school and afterwards he studied law. He stayed at this time with his Cowper cousins and family and was much happier.
He became very fond of his cousin Theadora, later to the extent of falling in love with her, and she with him. Unfortunately his father would not allow him to marry her; this seems to have been the beginning of his history of depression and mental illness.
During the time spent in London, while studying, William was a normal pleasant young man. He liked to write narrative verse for his own amusement and to share among his friends. Although he studied law he did not take up a practice in the Temple.
He continued writing poems. His health continued to be precarious, with bouts of depression lessening as time went on. He was offered a job in The House of Lords, subject to an examination. Unfortunately the prospect of this caused another bout of serious depression and a suicide attempt. He was nursed back to health from this by his friends Morley and Mary Unwin but later his friend Morley died.
William left London and went to live near Hunstanton, later getting engaged to Mary Unwin. But they were not married due to his continuing ill health. It was while living here that William wrote his first hymns. During the summer of 1767, when he was thirty-six, he met John Newton of Olney through a mutual friend. They realised they had much in common and a few weeks later he and Mary moved into John Newton's vicarage at Olney.
John Newton as a young man had trained for the sea, where he spent his early life, rising to become captain of a slave ship. This experience so sickened him that after a very bad storm at sea, his previous religious upbringing caused him to leave the sea and train in Holy Orders.
He became an evangelical and Calvinistic preacher, with a tendency to subject his parishioners to 'Hellfire and Damnation' type of sermons. The following year, Mary and William moved into 'Orchard Side', the house now used as the Olney Museum. Here William wrote hymns, in collaboration with John Newton, and also poems, including The Diverting History of John Gilpin.
He still had periods of depression; these seemed to improve after John moved to London. Although a great friend, his influence appears to have had an adverse effect on William's mental health. William and Mary moved again after a few years, and after Mary's death in 1796, William moved to Norfolk, where he died in April 1800, and is buried at Dereham.