At our May ’24 meeting Caroline gave us a very entertaining presentation on Nursery Rhymes of London Town and its author Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965). The book was published in 1916 and illustrated by her great uncle Macdonald ‘Max’ Gill. Eleanor wrote poems, musical plays and fiction for children. She was encouraged from an early age by her father, Ben, a journalist, to read and he gave her access to his vast library. She is probably best remembered for her words for the hymn “Morning Has Broken” (1931) which featured much later on a successful 1971 Cat Stevens album. Her father wrote a book “Grif” about colonial life in New Zealand and authored over 60 books. He wrote to Charles Dickens about his writing but did not get a very encouraging response. By the age of five Eleanor had started writing and was encouraged by her father who said “I think you are going to be a writer.” She grew up in London (Hamstead and Putney). She wrote for magazines e.g. Punch – Kingsway Poems (1916) and moved in literary circles, meeting the married poet Edward Thomas for whom she had an unrequited love. They remained close friends and exchanged many letters. He was killed in France (1917) during the war.
Caroline displayed some of the drawings from Nursery Rhymes of London Town e.g Threadneedle St on the cover and Kings Cross, highlighting the humour of the King’s tantrum in the drawing by her great uncle. Only the cover had colour. She also read some of Eleanor’s amusing poems such as Cats Can Sleep Anywhere , Nag’s Head and Bishopsgate. Eleanor wrote a poem after Edward’s death called Easter Monday (1917). An interesting anecdote about the poem Kings Cross revealed how Wallis Simpson gave King Edward a gold notecase in 1936 with the whole poem engraved in the inside cover. Nursery Rhymes … had glowing reviews and later “More Nursery Rhymes of London Town” (1917) was published. Sometimes Eleanor published under pen names e.g. Tom Fool at the Herald newspaper. She also put Nursery Rhymes … to music and won the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature (1955). In the 1930’s she set up house with George ‘Pod’ Earle, a teacher and wrote her memoirs in A Nursery in the Nineties. Their relationship lasted 30 years but she never married. She is buried in Hampstead, London.
This was a most interesting and enjoyable presentation about an author many of us can remember from childhood.
Nursery Rhymes of London Town (1916)
A Nursery in the Nineties (1935) Autobiographical
Edward Thomas: The Last Four Years (1958) An account of her relationship with poet Edward Thomas
A Sussex Alphabet (1924 ) Poems including an excerpt from All the Way to Alfriston (1918)
Kings and Queens – Eleanor and Herbert Farjeon (1932)
Lois Coulthart