A Jolly Naughty Bank speaks out






Poetry inspired by museum artefacts is nothing new. Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn is probably the best known example, and I read recently about Cambridge University's Thresholds project in the Museums Association Journal 

However nobody seems to have been inspired by the Muse to write about any of the items in what my friend Simon Heptinstall called Fairlynch Museum's "delightfully eclectic mix of locally donated period costumes, radioactive pebbles and natural history (ie, stuffed seabirds)" in his amusing 2001 Daily Telegraph article

There are some pretty odd things at Fairlynch, but that's possibly what a museum is all about.  

Anyway, here is what I was inspired to write about one of them:
I’ve got the most enormous mouth, my tongue is round and red.

My eyes are blue, my face is dark, my origin’s unsaid.

Cos I’m a Jolly Naughty Bank,

I sit here every day.

Some people think I’m curious,

And others look away.



I’ve got a hand, I hold it out for people to put in

A penny large and round which I acknowledge with a grin.

Cos I’m a Jolly Naughty Bank,

I sit here all the time

Some people think I shouldn’t be.

They tell me it’s a crime.



You work me with a lever, my hand goes up until

The penny drops and people laugh. They think it’s quite a thrill.

Cos I’m a Jolly Naughty Bank,

I’ve time to sit and think,

And wonder as I listen to

The ancient penny’s clink.



The penny has an image of Britannia o’er the waves,

That makes me wonder why it was they treated us as slaves.

I’m called a Jolly Naughty Bank

By those who know the facts.

I hope you feel embarrassed

By the history of the blacks.



So when you put the penny in and see my rolling eyes

Please think a little, share my thoughts and listen to my sighs.

Just see this Jolly Naughty Bank,

With all those pennies clinking

As the product of a nasty mind

Imbued with racist thinking.
© Michael Downes 2014


With acknowledgement to The Museum of Belief, curated by Bill Mayblin, husband of the late Andrea Levy.  When I wrote the above poem, I had consulted Mr Mayblin's website. A link to that site seemed to have been taken over by a Chinese blogger, which I found mysterious and annoying as Mr Mayblin had written an excellent article about the 'Jolly Naughty Bank'. 
His Museum of Belief website does not seem to be functioning as I write, but he refers to it at https://ifsopress.com/2018/06/11/bill-mayblin-the-benefits-of-not-being-an-expert/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WW2 100 – 3 July 1941 – ‘Our beloved son’: Private Stanley John Holloway (1914-41) 12th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment

Image
Continued from 11 June 1941 ‘A German platoon fired a salute of honour over the grave’ FLYING OFFICER PETER HAROLD HOWARD PRITCHARD (1921-41)   https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2021/11/ww2-75-11-june-1941-german-platoon.html   Image credit: www.FindaGrave.com Stanley’s sad death at the age of 27 stirred various thoughts in me when I first read about it. He is not listed on Budleigh Salterton’s War Memorial, yet his grave is in St Peter’s Burial Ground on Moor Lane. His family were not local, yet he seems to have been killed while engaged in the highly hazardous work of protecting Budleigh against invasion.   The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as a member of the 12 th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment with the Service Number was 5627659. According to the same source, his parents were George and M. Holloway, of Hounslow, Middlesex.   Tackling this WW2 project chronologically as I am, it was clear that Stanley had died on the same day as Private Clifto
Read more

People from the Past: 3. Reg Varney (1916-2008)

Image
Reginald Alfred 'Reg' Varney was an English actor, most notable for his role as a cheerful Cockney bus driver in the 1970s TV sitcom On the Buses . For ten years he lived at Dark Lane House on picturesque Dark Lane in Budleigh Salterton, seen above.  Millions of television viewers remember him with affection. He has been described as belonging to the old school of comedians, with his dislike of much contemporary television and his pride in never using swear words to get a laugh. Varney was born on 11 July 1916 in Canning Town, which was then part of Essex but is now part of East London. His father worked in a rubber factory in Silvertown and he was one of five children who grew up in Addington Road, Canning Town. He was educated at the nearby Star Lane Primary School in West Ham and after leaving school at 14, he worked as a messenger boy at the Regent Palace Hotel, pictured above.  
Read more

A home that Hatchard-Smith built: Lavender House

Image
Lavender House, one of no less than 50 houses in Budleigh Salterton designed by Hatchard-Smith   Instantly recognisable with their red and white decoration and their front doors set within brick arches, the houses built by architect William Hatchard-Smith (1887-1987) are still sought after and appreciated by their owners for their elegance and comfort, their sturdy construction and their attention to practical detail. Plans for one of the houses designed by Hatchard-Smith Lavender House, on Moorlands Road , is a four-bedroomed detached family residence built by Hatchard-Smith in the late 1920s when it was originally named Lavenderhay.   Set within what are described as beautifully landscaped gardens of approximately an acre it has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment programme while retaining much of the original charm and character. The stained glass memorial in Budleigh Sa
Read more