The Testimony Of Patience Kershaw.

If you have read my blog page for a while you probably know that I am a big fan of The Unthanks. Recently I saw their 2009 album Here’s The Tender Coming in the auction on eBay. I put in a bid of £3.99 and it was mine, a bargain! Mojo magazine named it as Folk album of the year in 2009, and I agree that it is a wonderful recording. I was already familiar with many of the songs, but it was still great to add it to my collection. Most of the songs are traditional plus a few cover versions of other artists songs such as Living By The Water written by Anne Briggs and Annachie Gordon which I knew from Nic Jones. The title track is also one of my favourite songs of theirs. The ‘Tender Coming’ refers to a boat which press gangs used to force people into serving in the navy. I don’t want to write a review of the whole album today, but just talk about one song which intrigued me as soon as I saw the title. It is The Testimony Of Patience Kershaw. 

My curiosity immediately wanted to know who Patience Kershaw was. You can find a video of the song below which I hope you will listen to carefully as I did. From the lyrics I deduced that Patience worked underground in a coal mine as a ‘hurrier’ which involved pushing corves loaded with coal along the dark narrow tunnels. (A corve is a type of minecart). In a twelve hour shift she would cover twenty miles.  As well as using her arms and legs to push the corves she also used her head, which resulted in her hair being worn away. The song was written by Frank Higgins based on a statement Patience aged 17 gave when she was called upon to provide testimony to the Ashley’s Mines Commission of 1842. This commission came about after an accident at Huskar Colliery in Silkstone, near Barnsley. A stream overflowed into the ventilation drift after violent thunderstorms causing the death of 26 children; 11 girls aged from 8 to 16 and 15 boys between 9 and 12 years of age. What Patience told the inquiry is quite shocking. This is what she said.

‘My father has been dead about a year; my mother is living and has ten children, five lads and five lasses; the oldest is about thirty, the youngest is four; three lasses go to mill; all the lads are colliers, two getters and three hurriers; one lives at home and does nothing; mother does nought but look after home. All my sisters have been hurriers, but three went to the mill. Alice went because her legs swelled from hurrying in cold water when she was hot. I never went to day-school; I go to Sunday-school, but I cannot read or write; I go to pit at five o'clock in the morning and come out at five in the evening; I get my breakfast of porridge and milk first; I take my dinner with me, a cake, and eat it as I go; I do not stop or rest any time for the purpose; I get nothing else until I get home, and then have potatoes and meat, not every day meat. I hurry in the clothes I have now got on, trousers and ragged jacket; the bald place upon my head is made by thrusting the corves; my legs have never swelled, but sisters' did when they went to mill; I hurry the corves a mile and more underground and back; they weigh 300 cwt.; I hurry 11 a-day; I wear a belt and chain at the workings, to get the corves out; the getters that I work for are naked except their caps; they pull off all their clothes; I see them at work when I go up; sometimes they beat me, if I am not quick enough, with their hands; they strike me upon my back; the boys take liberties with me sometimes they pull me about; I am the only girl in the pit; there are about 20 boys and 15 men; all the men are naked; I would rather work in mill than in coal-pit’.

This evidence shows the terrible squalid conditions working people had to endure during the Victorian period when the British empire was at its height and the aristocracy, landed gentry, and factory owners enjoyed fabulous wealth beyond the wildest dreams of most of the population. In their report the commissioners said of Patience, ‘This girl is an ignorant, filthy, ragged, and deplorable-looking object, and such a one as the uncivilized natives of the prairies would be shocked to look upon’. What a scathing indictment that is of Victorian society. I don’t think slaves toiling in cottonfields would have had worse working conditions. The commission’s report based on the evidence that Patience and many others gave resulted in The Mines and Collieries Act 1842. The Act forbade women and girls of any age to work underground and introduced a minimum age of ten for boys employed in underground work. However, it was only with the growth of Trade Unions and the formation of the Labour Party that things finally really improved for most people in Britain. 

I’m not the first person to be curious about Patience because by looking on Wiki-data and elsewhere I found that other people had been researching her history. Poor Patience spent her last years in a Workhouse and what the Victorians called Lunatic Asylums. Patience passed away in 1865, age 42. She was buried in St Peter churchyard, Stanley, near Wakefield Yorkshire. I have got friends who live in Stanley, but I don’t think it would be worth searching for her grave on my next visit to Yorkshire because the likes of Patience Kershaw would not have been afforded the luxury of a headstone. Her small contribution to improving the lives of poor people in Britain shouldn’t be forgotten though. This song will be her epitaph. Thank you Frank Higgins and The Unthanks for turning her testimony into song so that Patience Kershaw will never be forgotten.

The Unthanks perform The Testimony of Patience Kershaw

Somerset Maughan & Ramana Maharshi

Today I thought I would tell you about a book which arrived here recently. It is called Points of View, a collection of five essays by W. Somerset Maughan. A first edition published by Heineman in 1958. The reason I ordered it was because I was particularly keen to read one of the essays which is called The Saint. It didn’t take me long to read the essay because it is only 39 pages long. In 1938 during a trip to India Somerset Maughan had a meeting with the Hindu sage Ramana Maharshi. The essay is an account of that meeting, together with a biographical portrayal of Ramana Maharshi’s life and teachings. In one of Maughan’s novels The Razor’s Edge in 1944 he had used a fictionalised version of Ramana as one of the books characters. I first became curious to learn about Ramana Maharshi because Eckhart Tolle has often mentioned him in glowing terms in his talks. 

This led me to reading a 22-page pamphlet called Who Am I? which was first published in 1923 and consisted of 28 questions put to Ramana by Sri Pillau. Then I read a 1985 paperback Be As You Are, The Teachings Of Sri Ramana Maharshi. This book which I recommend is edited by David Godman who has followed Ramana’s teachings since 1976 and became the librarian at his ashram.  I wanted to find out about Maughan’s meeting. It was in Madras that Maughan’s hosts told him that he should visit Ramana who was the most revered swami in India. It was a hot dusty drive of several hours to reach Ramana’s hermitage at Tiruvannamalai at the foot of the holy mountain of Arunachala. On arrival Maughan promptly fainted. He was carried unconscious to a hut and laid down on a pallet bed. When he regained his senses, he found Ramana sitting on the floor by his bed. He barely said a word except, “Silence is also conversation”, and remained sitting in silence for half an hour before finally leaving. Maughan immediately felt recovered. He was well enough to visit the hall where Ramana sat in silence on a dais and welcomed visitors.

I’ll just give you a quick little history of Ramana and his teachings which Maughan covers in the second part of his essay. He was born in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, India in 1879. In 1895, an attraction to the sacred hill Arunachala was aroused in him and in 1896, at the age of 16, he had a "death-experience" or sudden liberation where he became aware of a "current" or "force" which he recognized as his true "I" or "self" that is Iswara.  Six weeks later he left his uncle's home after discovering that Arunachala was a real place and journeyed by train to the holy mountain where he remained for the rest of his life. For several weeks he stayed in the vaults of a temple, so deep in meditation he was unaware of being eaten alive by vermin and insects, and local children throwing stones at him. He was finally rescued by a local sage Seshadri Swamigal who cleaned him up and fed him. He moved to another temple called Gurumurtan where a sadhu called Palaniswami became his first attendant and provided food and cooked for him. His family who had been searching finally tracked him down, but he refused to return home even when his mother begged him to. Eventually his brother and mother became followers and moved to live near him at Virupakasha Cave where he stayed for 17 years. 

Arunachala

In later years, an ashram grew up around him, where visitors received spiritual instruction by sitting silently in his company or by asking questions. Ramana Maharshi recommended self-enquiry as the principal means to remove ignorance and abide in self-awareness. In 1902, a government official named Sivaprakasam Pillai, with writing slate in hand, visited the Ramana in the hope of obtaining answers to questions about "How to know one's true identity". The questions he asked formed Ramana Maharshi's first teachings on Self-enquiry, the method for which he became widely known, and were eventually published as Nan Yar?, or in English, Who am I?. (That’s the pamphlet I first read)

His mother died in 1922, so from 1922 until his death in 1950, Ramana Maharshi lived in Sri Ramanasramam, the ashram that developed around his mother's tomb. The ashram grew to include a library, hospital, post-office and many other facilities. Ramana Maharshi displayed a natural talent for planning building projects. The popular image of him as a person who spent most of his time doing nothing except sitting silently in samadhi is highly inaccurate. From the period when an Ashram began to rise around him after his mother arrived, until his later years when his health failed, Ramana Maharshi was actually quite active in Ashram activities such as cooking and stitching leaf plates.  

Ramana Maharshi then became well known in and out of India after 1934 when Paul Brunton, having first visited Ramana Maharshi in January 1931, published the book A Search in Secret India. Brunton calls Ramana Maharshi "one of the last of India's spiritual supermen” and describes his affection toward Ramana Maharshi: “I like him greatly because he is so simple and modest, when an atmosphere of authentic greatness lies so palpably around him; he is so totally without any traces of pretension that he strongly resists every effort to canonize him during his lifetime”. While staying at Sri Ramanasramam, Paul Brunton had an experience of a "sublimely all-embracing" awareness, a "Moment of Illumination". The book was a best-seller and introduced Ramana Maharshi to a wider audience in the west. 

In November 1948, a tiny cancerous lump was found on Ramana's arm and was removed in February 1949 by the ashram's doctor. Soon, another growth appeared, and another operation was performed by an eminent surgeon in March 1949 with radium applied. The doctor told Ramana that a complete amputation of the arm to the shoulder was required to save his life, but he refused. To devotees who begged him to cure himself for the sake of his followers, Ramana is said to have replied, "Why are you so attached to this body? Let it go", and "Where can I go? I am here." By April 1950, he was too weak to go to the hall and visiting hours were limited. Visitors would file past the small room where he spent his last days to get one final glimpse. He died on 14 April 1950 at 8:47 p.m aged 71. At the same time a comet was seen which disappeared beyond Arunachala which his devotees saw as the passing of a great soul.. Although he passed away in 1950 I think that with the spread in popularity of  such things as Mindfulness and Meditation in the modern world the teachings of Ramana Maharshi are more relevant than ever. So, thank you very much Eckhart Tolle for first introducing me to Ramana Maharshi. 

PS, Please watch David Godman's video interview below. He explains Ramana's teachings much better than I ever could do.

Who am I? The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Black Dog.

 I accompanied a friend and her dog on a walk around Black Dog Woods on the outskirts of Westbury this afternoon. The woods got this name because around 300 years ago there were two local men both rivals for the affections of a young maid of the parish. They decided to fight a duel in the woods to see who would win her hand in marriage. One of the suitors was slain by his rival. His pet dog was so enraged to see his master killed that he attacked the victor and mauled him to death. When the young lady learned of this tragic outcome, she was so distraught she also took her own life. It is said that the ghost of the black dog haunts the woods to this day. I must say that this particular walk does have a quite lonesome eerie atmosphere, especially on a cold January afternoon. I was glad to have a companion with me, although I appreciated the exercise and the fresh air.

Silhouettes In The Snow.

It was about -2 degrees C here today. It had snowed overnight, but was a bright sunny day, perfect for a walk in the January sunshine. I joined a friend who was taking her dog for a walk around an area known locally as The Mead. Some parts of the ponds were frozen over, but in other areas there were plenty of swans and ducks busily foraging for food. Along the path I spotted a tiny wren hopping from branch to branch on a small tree. I tried to photograph him, but he kept moving too quickly. I had more luck with a robin who seemed curious about what we were doing on his land. It felt great to be outdoors communing with nature. 

Then we drove up to the White Horse. It was quite tricky driving up the frozen winding lane and avoiding other traffic coming down. It was worth the effort because there was lots to see. Sheep still grazed on parts of the hillside that were snow-free.  This is a very popular spot for Hang-gliding enthusiasts, and several of them floated quite spectacularly in the air above the White Horse. Also, a few months ago the army had installed several giant metal silhouette figures of soldiers to warn the public to stay away from the army firing range. There are also silhouettes of ordinary people engaged in ordinary activities. 

They have proved to be very popular with local people, quite iconic, like Westbury’s equivalent of famous statues like Anthony Gormley’s The Angel Of The North. They were meant to be a temporary installation, but Westbury Town Council has applied for planning permission to make them a permanent fixture. I had never seen them before, so went over to have a close-up look. I think they are amazing, so I hope they stay. After that I was getting a bit cold, so we made our way carefully back down the hill. I said cheerio to my friend and went home for a welcome hot cup of tea. I was pleased I had made the effort to get out and about.

A January Walk.

The news has been full of reports about the weather today. In some areas heavy snow, and flooding in other places. We have had a lot of wind and rain where I live, but not too bad. Finally, today on January 6^th I got out for a walk around Fairwood Lakes. I enjoyed it after being inside for days on end. It was wonderful to feel the wind on my face and breathe some fresh air.

“Go outside. Don’t tell anyone and don’t bring your phone. Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand … Just walk, see, sit down if you like. And be. Just be whatever you are with whatever you have, and realize that that is enough to be happy. There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it.” – Charlotte Eriksson