This year's Lowry Lounge will be longer than last year with more contributors.
Details below:
The 2012 Lowry Lounge 11.00am - 6.00pm Saturday 27th October 2012 The Bluecoat School Lane Liverpool L1 3BX
The Bluecoat's annual celebration of Wirral-born writer Malcolm Lowry (Under The Volcano) comprises a pyschogeographical walking tour of Liverpool with artist Colin Dilnot (11am - 1pm) and afternoon at the Bluecoat (2-6pm), including the launch of The Firminist No. 3, an occasional journal of all things Lowry, performances, talks and music. Tickets: Tour £5 (places limited, so book early)/ Lowry Lounge £3/Combined Ticket £6 Contact The Bluecoat 0151 702 5324 or www.thebluecoat.org.uk
I have just posted about Lowry's connection to the pub on Gutted Arcades of the Past. In doing research for the post I came across a 1936 advert:
This hotel has proved a port of call and pleasant resting place for such national characters as the poets SHELLEY and KEATS, also the artist TURNER when painting his pictures of sunsets on the River Dee. It was the source for that famous song "SIMON THE CELLARER", which was composed here.
The advert made me smile as it could have been written by Malc at his mischievous best with his penchant for tall stories - perhaps he was the source for the unknowing landlord?
The song by John Liptrot Hatton, 'Simon the Cellarer' was not written in the pub but more than likely it was about the former Ring O' Bells in Bidston. Though I did think you could add it to the Malc playlist for the next Lowry Lounge!
Here are the words:
Old Simon the cellarer keeps a rare store,
Of Malmsey and Malvoisie
And Cyprus, and who can say how many more!
For a chary old soul is he,
A chary old soul is he.
Of Sack and Canary he never doth fail,
And all the year round there is brewing of ale,
Yet he never aileth, he quaintly doth say,
While he keeps to his sober six flagons a day.
But ho! ho! ho! his nose doth shew
How oft the black Jack to his lips doth go.
But ho! ho! ho! his nose doth shew
How oft the black Jack to his lips doth go.
Dame Margery sits in her own still-room,
And a matron sage is she,
From thence oft at Curfew is wafted a fume;
She says it is Rosemary,
She says it is Rosemary.
But there's a small curboard behind the back stair,
And the maids say they often see Margery there -
Now Margery says that she grows very old,
And must take a something to keep out the cold!
But ho! ho! ho! old Simon doth know,
Where many a flask of his best doth go.
But ho! ho! ho! old Simon doth know,
Where many a flask of his best doth go.
Old Simon reclines in his high-back'd chair,
And talks about taking a wife;
And Margery often is heard to declare
That she ought to be settled in life,
She ought to be settled in life.
But Margery has (so the maids say) a tongue,
And she's not very handsome, and not very young:
So somehow it ends with a shake of the head,
And Simon he brews him a tankard instead.
While ho! ho! ho! he will chuckle and crow,
What! Marry old Margery? no, no, no!
While ho! ho! ho! He will chuckle and crow,
What! Marry old Margery? no, no, no!
The references to Malmsey would resonate with Lowry fans - who would recall how Malc stated that he was named Clarence after Shakespeare's duke who died head-down in a malmsey butt; Rosemary - the name of the elephant in the short story 'Elephant and Colosseum' and of course Margery - his second wife.
We are starting to prepare for the next Lowry Lounge on 15th October 2011 - more details to follow. In the meantime I have revisted last year's musical treats from Bryan Bigg's playlist with songs which I didn't post for some reason last year!
These should get us in the spirit:
George Formby – I’m the Ukulele Man
Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians – Dry Bones
Bix Beiderbecke – Singing the Blues
Claude Hopkins and his orchestra - Shake Your Ashes
One of the highlights of the recent Lowry Lounge evening at the Bluecoat in Liverpool was the showing of the above.
The documentary was made in 1967 by Melvyn Bragg for BBC2 TV in the UK. The above is a clipping of when it was first shown.
The documentary included material which was later used in the Canadian documentary Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry by Donald Brittain & John Kramer, 1976.
Last Friday's inaugural Lowry Lounge featured the launch of the Firminist magazine. The magazine is published by the University of Bradford in association with The Bluecoat, Liverpool.
Editorial
Mischievous world over which merely more subtle lunatics exerted almost supreme hegemony, where neurotic behaviour was the rule, and there was nothing but hypocrisy to answer the flames of evil, which might be the flames of judgement, which were already scorching nearer and nearer…
The above words are the thoughts of William Plantagenet, the protagonist of Malcolm Lowry’s story Lunar Caustic. Lowry began the tale in 1935 after he was interned in Bellevue Hospital, New York following a bout of alcoholic excess – an occurrence he described wryly as a ‘deliberate pilgrimage’. The book was finally published as a novella in the UK in 1963 after, typically, many revisions.
Lowry had a gift for the prophetic. His most famous character Geoffrey Firmin – ‘the Consul’ in his most famous novel, Under the Volcano – stood for the perpetual failure of human beings to achieve wholeness because of desire, fate, weakness and bad luck. Beneath the dense language and layers of symbolism and mysticism in Lowry’s work one can find a profound if unpartisan political message. Plantagenet’s words ring out as a haunting description of our current social, political and environmental malaise.
But ultimately Lowry asked us to accept the fragmentary nature of humankind as somehow ‘normal’, often expressing this through humour. We all experience our own ‘tooloose-Lowrytrek’, but moments of redemptive joy intermittently break out. Lowry left only a small, though vivid, collection of works (stories, novels, poems, songs), but fortunately also a large collection of brilliant letters, which, still echoing out across time and space, remain a source of inspiration and wonder for writers and artists.
The Firminist is an occasional journal devoted to the work of Malcolm Lowry containing essays, reports, graphics – and crosswords. It is of course not intended to supplant the considerable body of research on Lowry already conducted or underway (and we note here especially the work of the Canadian group of Lowry scholars who ran, from 1984 to 2002, The Malcolm Lowry Newsletter/Malcolm Lowry Review), but will, we hope, make a modest contribution to the promotion of Lowry’s work – especially in the UK, the place of his birth and death.
The Firminists October 2010
Issue 1 Contents
'Tooloose'on the Wirral: A Report of The Voyage Never Ends The Firminists Mark Goodall, the leader of the Firminists reveals what a group of Lowry acolytes got up to one Autumnal day last October to celebrate the spirit of Malc on Merseyside.
Drawn Out: The Appearance of Malcolm Lowry in Contemporary Art Bryan Biggs Bryan catalogues the art exhibition, which he curated, the centre-piece of last year's Lowry Centenary Festival at the Bluecoat, Liverpool.
Bollocky Bill and Seraphina: Music in Malcolm Lowry's Ultramarine Colin Dilnot A snapshot of my on-going research into Lowry's use of music.
The Consul in the Pharmacy: Orphaned Writing, Alcohol, and the Pharmakon-Structure in Under The Volcano Helen Tookey Helen's insightful essay throws up some intriguing thoughts on Lowry's "life and death struggle" with language.
In the Footsteps of Lowry in Oaxaca Alberto Rebello Alberto takes on a tour of Oaxaca to discover the place where Lowry's demons caught up with him.
Notes on Contributors
Malcolm Lowry Crossword, No 1
For correspondence, advertising, subscriptions, reprints, permissions, or citations, please contact below:
Mark Goodall Bradford Media School University of Bradford Richmond Road Bradford West Yorkshire BD7 1DP
Here we have a tongue in cheek track from Tom Lehrer combined with an article above tempting US tourists south of the border in 1937. - read whole article here
When it's fiesta time in Guadalajara, Then I long to be back once again In Old Mexico. Where we lived for today, Never giving a thought to tomara. To the strumming of guitars, In a hundred grubby bars I would whisper "Te amo."
The mariachis would serenade, And they would not shut up till they were paid. We ate, we drank, and we were merry, And we got typhoid and dysentery.
But best of all, we went to the Plaza de Toros. Now whenever I start feeling morose, I revive by recalling that scene. And names like Belmonte, Dominguin, and Manolete, If I live to a hundred and eighty, I shall never forget what they mean.
(For there is surely nothing more beautiful in this world than the sight of a lone man facing singlehandedly a half a ton of angry pot roast!)
Out came the matador, Who must have been potted or Slightly insane, but who looked rather bored. Then the picadors of course, Each one on his horse, I shouted "Ole!" ev'ry time one was gored.
I cheered at the bandilleros' display, As they stuck the bull in their own clever way, For I hadn't had so much fun since the day My brother's dog Rover Got run over.
(Rover was killed by a Pontiac. And it was done with such grace and artistry that the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail - but I digress.)
The moment had come, I swallowed my gum, We knew there'd be blood on the sand pretty soon. The crowd held its breath, Hoping that death Would brighten an otherwise dull afternoon.
At last, the matador did what we wanted him to. He raised his sword and his aim was true. In that moment of truth I suddenly knew That someone had stolen my wallet.
Now it's fiesta time in Akron, Ohio, But it's back to old Guadalajara I'm longing to go. Far away from the strikes of the A.F. of L. and C.I.O. How I wish I could get back To the land of the wetback, And forget the Alamo, In Old Mexico. Ole!
The first report back on the Lowry Lounge evening held at the Bluecoat focuses on the music played by the Firminists resident DJ - Bryan Biggs who as the Artistic Director of the The Bluecoat was hosting our inaugural gathering.
The musical choices are based on references to Lowry's likes and lifestyle with a smattering of South American references and some references which have obscure meanings only known to Firminist acolytes.
I set this blog up to mark the centenary of Malcolm Lowry's birth in July 2009.
I want to use the blog to publish my on-going research into Lowry's Wirral and to document my psychogeographical wanderings around Wirral and Liverpool in search of Lowry's spirit.
I will also use the blog to document the various themes that run through Lowry's work such as his love of cinema and jazz which I share with him.
Draw up a stool and join Malc and me at the bar in the clubhouse and enjoy the night!
Colin Dilnot
colin.dilnot@gmail.com
The photograph shows the original Caldy Golf Clubhouse, Wirral (not actually the 19th hole because the course was only 9 holes when first developed!) circa 1910.
You can see Caldy in the background which was just being developed by David Benno Rappart.
The clubhouse would have looked like this when Malcolm Lowry as a youth used the course which was near to his home at Inglewood in Caldy.
The clubhouse was located to the west of the Hooton to West Kirby Railway line near a bridge crossing what is now Shore Road. The building still stands and has been converted to residential accommodation though the landscape has changed considerably in a 100 years.
I will be sharing more information and photographs detailing Lowry's Wirral both on the blog.
An essay detailing some of my research is now published in a book called Malcolm Lowry: From the Mersey to the world.
I am currently working on a bigger project entitled 'Gutted Arcades of the Past' detailing Lowry's early life and works.
Malcolm Lowry: From the Mersey to the World Biggs, Bryan & Tookey, Helen (eds)
Malcolm Lowry described Liverpool as ‘that terrible city whose main street is the ocean’. Born on the Wirral side of the river Mersey, Lowry’s relationship to the Merseyside of his youth informs all of his writing and Liverpool itself continued to hold tremendous significance for him, even though he never returned. Published in conjunction with a festival and exhibition at Liverpool’s Bluecoat arts centre celebrating Lowry’s centenary, this beautifully produced book showcases a variety of creative and critical approaches to Lowry and his work, and includes twelve specially commissioned pieces of new writing. There is a particular focus on place and on journeys; contributors write from the UK, Europe, Canada and Mexico, and reflect both on Lowry’s ‘voyage that never ends’ and on their own journeys with and through Lowry’s work. The book also demonstrates the richness of Lowry’s influence on contemporary visual artists and includes full-colour illustrations throughout. It will be an indispensable companion for anyone interested in the creative legacy of Malcolm Lowry’s life and work.
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