Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A warming carol.




By the churchyard wall a fine euonymus , a spindle tree, in full bloom. The boughs weighed down to the ground with a mass of red fruits. They're called spindle trees because their wood doesn't splinter when it breaks or fractures - a perfect material for making spindles . They grew in the garden in Scotland but here the warm temperate climate gives this most pedestrian of shrubs a truly theatrical appearance. From a distance this one , set against the grey sky and grey wall, looks like a living flame. A dozen goldfinches , munching contentedly on the fruit, fly off as I approach.

To the cathedral for a concert. Angus wears a pair of Timberland boots and two pairs of socks. The cold still seeps out of the marble floors, through the rubber soles and into your feet. An abbatoir chill.  A French choir. They sing this most joyful of modern English carols . The strange almost mystical line of sixteenth century poetry describing the Christmas birth echoing through the nave:

All hell doth at
his presence quake
though he himself with
cold do shake 


15 comments:

  1. La France profounde....

    Thank you for your most pleasant prose...

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  2. Haven't heard that one before. Know that abbatoir chill well...

    XXXOOO Daisy, bella & Roxy

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  3. Beautiful blooming spindle tree...really lights up the surroundings.
    Glad you enjoyed the concert, except for the "abbatoir chill"...Angus you do have a way with words.
    Enjoyed the video as well.

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  4. Thank you for the wonderful video. A beautiful carol.

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  5. Angus, I always get a good chuckle out of your blog - and today you didn't disappoint.

    The spindle tree is gorgeous!!

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  6. That's a carol I've never heard before. It's quite pretty!

    The spindle tree is really beautiful! What a nice accent to grey December days.

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  7. Lovely post this morning. Tis the season!

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  8. The gorgeous spindle tree and vibrant yellow finches ! Nature at it's finest.

    Ah!.... Benjamin Britten...lovely.

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  9. I love this one. We used to hear the brilliant Robert Shaw conduct this every Christmas. Such a treat.
    And the spindle bush is the most perfect colour ever!!

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  10. The spring in my step has been reinvigorated! What a lovely performance.
    I agree with Pamela - a perfect colour.
    x

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  11. Beautiful tree! We went a week ago to see a group called Camerata Nova (google them for a treat to the ears). Bliss.

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  12. The tree is a beautiful color, a bright spot in a dreary day. :)

    Janelle, Maggie Mae and Max

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  13. It's very hard to believe that the tree is blooming now. What a brilliant spot in mid-winter.

    As always, you made me think. Love the lines of poetry.

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