[lit-ideas] The Boerwoer
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- Date: Sat, 3 May 2014 07:41:52 -0400 (EDT)
We are trying to evaluate different historians' perspectives on this or
that imperial territory, or alleged imperial territory. Meanwhile, Harry and
William are meant to play polo in Geary's territory.
In a message dated 5/2/2014 11:10:12 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes in "Parmele on the British Empire's South
African
colony": "On page 70 of A Short History of England, Ireland and Scotland,
copyrighted in 1898, 1900 and 1906, Mary Platt Parmele assesses Britain’s
war with the Boers.
This reminds me of Chapter 58 in "1066 and all that".
Sellars and Yeatman title that chapter
"The Boerwoer"
They write:
"The last event in Queen Victoria's reign was the Borewore, or, more
correctly, Boerwoer (Dutch), which was fought against a very tiresome Dutch
tribe called the Bores, because they were left over from all previous wars."
"The War was not a very successful one at first, and was quite unfair
because the Boers could shoot much further than the English, and also because
they were rather despicable in wearing veldt hats and using PomPom bullets."
"Numerous battles were fought against the Bore leaders (such as Bother,
Kopje, and Stellenbosch) at Nek's Creek, Creek's Nek, Knock's Knee, etc., and
much assistance was given to the British cause by Strathcoma's memorable
horse (patriotically lent by Lord Strathcoma for the occasion) and by the
C.I.D., who fought very bravely and were awarded a tremendous welcome on their
return to London after the war."
"Finally, the people at home took upon themselves the direction of the War
and won it in a single night in London by a new and bracing method of
warfare known as Mafeking."
"Thus the English were once more victorious."
"Memorable Results The Barwar was obviously a Good Thing in the end because
it was the cause of Boy Scouts and of their memorable Chief Scout, General
Baden Powell (known affectionately as 'the B.O.P.'), and also because it
gave rise to a number of very manly books, such as 40 Years Beating About
The Bush, 50 Years Before The Mast, 60 Years Behind The Times, etc."
Parmele writes:
“The sympathy of foreign states was strongly with the Boers."
As Helm notes, since Parmele is an anglo-phile, the implicature of the
above is:
"The antipathy of the anglophile is with the Boers.
"... and in England itself the cause evoked a languid enthusiasm, until
aroused by disaster, and until the pride of the nation was touched by loss of
prestige."
Noel Coward, of all people, was fascinated by this war. In "Cavalcade", or
rather, THROUGH "Cavalcade" (the original recording now on CD) I learned
MOST of the "Boer war" songs -- My favourite have to be "Goodbye Dolly Gray"
and "Goodbye my bluebell". These were AMERICAN (Spanish war) songs, but
adopted by the English as they went to South Africa. VERY MOVING, as recorded
by Sir Noel.
The plot of Cavalcade revolves around the Boer War and ends with the news
of the crucial battle.
I think Coward found more romance in the Boer War than the more jingoistic
"Long-Way-to-Tipperary" GREAT war, that, instead, fascinated Beverly
Nichols.
Parmele goes on:
"The danger, the enormous difficulties to be overcome, the privations and
suffering of their boys, these were the things which awoke the dormant
enthusiasm in the heart of the nation. And when the only son of Lord Roberts
had been offered as a sacrifice, and then a son of Lord Dufferin, and then,
Prince Victor, October 29, 1900, grandson of the Queen herself, the cause
had become sacred, and one for which any loyal Briton would be willing to
die."
-- rather than making cheap jokes to its expense, as per Sellars and
Yeatman!
"By September 1, 1900, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal had been
formally proclaimed by Lord Roberts, "Colonies of British Empire.""
Why plural? I suppose "One of the Colonies of THE British Empire". In
Latin, you don't need 'the' (in fact, the definite article does not exist in
Latin) but English is a different animal. Just kidding.
"This was the beginning of the end, and when the victorious commander
(December 2, 1900) arrived in England amid the plaudits of a grateful nation,
the victory was practically won, and the time was at hand when not far from
twenty thousand British soldiers would be lying under the sod six thousand
miles away, in a land, which no longer disputed the sovereignty of England!"
The 'lying under the sod' reminds me of the Boys of the Old Brigad, another
earlier 'reminiscent' war song. I love to sing (and play) that song,
because it's a 'ballad' (and a drawing-room ballad at that) and the second
stanza is totally modulated!
Over the sea far away they lie,
Far from the land of their love;
Nations alter, the years go by,
But Heav’n still is Heav’n above,
Not in the abbey proudly laid
Find they a place or part;
The gallant boys of the old Brigade,
They sleep in old England’s heart.
But that's another part of Empire!
Parmele goes on:
"We have yet to see whether the South African colonial possessions have
been paid for too dearly, with nine fierce Kaffir wars (another threatening as
this is written), and the blood of princes, peers, and commoners poured as
if it were water into the African soil. Is England richer or poorer for
this outpouring of blood and treasure? Has she risen or fallen in the
estimation of the world, as she uncovers her stores of gold and diamonds among
those valiant but defeated Boers, sullenly brooding over the past, with no
love in their hearts."
Pathetic paragraphing, in the sense that Parmele surely knows how to find
the right word with emotional overtones!
Helm comments: "I have recently taken offense at historians who didn’t
provide references for their conclusions and opinions (pertaining to the
American Civil War) but have yet to take offense at anything Parmele has
written. The above comment on the Boer War may be typical. She is clearly an
Anglophile and yet when British leaders do something dumb or something she
thinks is unjust she is quick to say so. And in the above case she also asks
the interesting question about whether Britain gained or lost by means of
their South African accomplishment."
A sort of general question. it may be that the ROYAL family lost, while the
ADMINISTRATION won. It may be that what later will be the COMMONWEALTH
won, while "Little England" lost? We may want to specify the rather general
term to which victory is ascribed: "Britain".
Helm goes on:
"Parmele considers the loss of British lives (around 20,000) and the loss
of respect from other nations, but after the Second World War we also
wonder about the economic loss. Spain clearly became a powerful empire as the
result of robbing its colonies of their gold. When Parmele wrote her book,
British miners were apparently digging out South African gold and diamonds,
but Britain could not get away with mere robbery as Spain did, even if the
British people would tolerate it; which they wouldn’t. There were laws in
effect that British miners had to comply with; so the economic benefit to
Britain was not as great as a similar extraction of wealth from the Aztecs
and Incans was for Spain. Eventually (sometime around 1949 if I remember
correctly) the cost of maintaining an army and navy in foreign enterprises
became too great for this once Empire and it gave it up (with a little help
from its friends)."
Very good.
For the record, a summary of Coward's "Cavalcade", which offering a view of
English life in New Year's Eve 1899. The film is presented from the point
of view of well-to-do London residents Jane and Robert Marryot. The first
hstorical event that serves as background for the film is the SECOND Boer
War.
The soundtrack includes "Girls of the C.I.V.," "Mirabelle," "Lover of My
Dreams," and "Twentieth Century Blues" by Noël Coward, "A Bird in a Gilded
Cage" by Harry von Tilzer, "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside" by John
Glover Kind, "Take Me Back to Yorkshire" by Harry Castling[2] and Fred
Godfrey,
"Nearer My God, To Thee" by Lowell Mason, "Your King and Country Want You"
by Paul Rubens, "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" by Jack Judge and
Harry Williams, "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile,
Smile" by Felix Powell and George Asaf, "Keep The Home Fires Burning" by Ivor
Novello and Lena Guilbert Ford, "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" by Nat Ayer and
Seymour Brown, "Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo (Mad'moiselle from Armentieres)" by
Irwin Dash, Al Dubin, and Joe Mittenthal, and "Over There" by George M.
Cohan.
The film premiered in New York City on January 5, 1933 but did not go into
general theatrical release until April 15.
Wikipedia has a full entry on "Opposition to the Boer War" from which a
passage is extracted below.
Cheers,
Speranza
---
"Although the 1900 UK general election, also known as the "Khaki election",
had resulted in a victory for the Conservative government on the back of
recent British victories against the Boers, public support quickly waned as
it became apparent that the war would not be easy and unease developed
following reports about the treatment by the British army's of the Boer
civilians such as concentration camps and farm burning. Public and political
opposition to Government policies in South Africa regarding Boer civilians was
first expressed in Parliament in February 1901 in the form of an attack on
the policy, the government, and the Army by the radical Liberal M.P. David
Lloyd-George. Emily Hobhouse in June 1901 published a fifteen-page report on
the concentration camps operated by British Command, and Lloyd George then
openly accused the government of "a policy of extermination" directed
against the Boer population. In June, 1901, Liberal opposition party leader
Campbell-Bannerman took up the assault and answered the rhetorical "When is a
war not a war?" with "When it is carried on by methods of barbarism in
South Africa," referring to those same camps and the policies that created
them. There was also embarrassment at the poor health of the British recruits,
with up to 40% being found unfit for military service. Most were suffering
from poverty-related illnesses such as rickets. Concern over the health of
the recruits coincided with increasing concern for the general state of the
poor in Britain. Opposition to the war was strongest among the Irish. Many
Irish nationalists sympathised with the Boers as a kindred people being
oppressed by British imperialism. Though many Irishmen fought in the British
army, some fought for the Boers too. Irish miners working in the Transvaal
when the war began formed the nucleus of two tiny Irish commandos."
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