Peter Haining [ed] - The Lost Stories of W.S. Gilbert

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Peter Haining [ed] - The Lost Stories of W.S. Gilbert (Robson, 1982)

W.S. Gilbert Design: Stonecastle Graphics

Peter Haining - Introduction


My Maiden Brief
The Poisoned Postage Stamp
Maxwell and I
The Triumph of Vice
Jones‘ Victoria Cross
Diamonds
An Elixir of Love
Tom Poulton's Joke
Creatures of Impulse
The Wicked World
Wide Awake
Comedy and Tragedy
Foggerty's Fairy
The Burglar's Story
The Finger of Fate
Little Mim
Angela
The Fairy's Dilemma
The Lady in the Plaid Shawl
Trial by Jury

Blurb:
Sir William Schwenk Gilbert is today famous for the brilliant partnership with Arthur Sullivan which produced Comic Operas loved all over the world for their witty songs and ingenious plots as well as their eminently singable tunes.

Gilbert was, though, established as a writer long before the two men started working together, contributing to some of the most important magazines of the day (Fun, Cornhill, London Society, Punch). And no doubt the phenomenal success of the operas has caused the overshadowing of other writings — in particular the varied and inventive short stories which he personally believed were among his finest work.

In this book is the first-ever collection of the best of these tales, complete with Gilbert's quirky and unmistakable illustrations. The topsy-turvy world of the operas is inhabited by the characters in these stories. which are set in the realm of quaint mésalliances and, often, humorous supernaturalism where only the probable never happens.

There are tales humorous and grim, tales witty and even romantic. There are stories, such as ‘The Elixir of Love', which were the basis of later successes - and there are even the 1868 verses he wrote for Fun which give the first hint of Trial by Jury.

For the enthusiast of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas this collection of stories will prove an absolute feast — as it will for any lover of witty and whimsical writing,

Diamonds: (Routledge's Christmas Annual, 1867). Disowned by his father over gambling debts, young Ralph Warren hits London where he falls in with a tribe of Boho scribblers and Mary Vyner, humble milliners assistant, to whom he proposes. But on the death of his own father, Warren senior, desperate to keep the family's wealth is house, relents. Ralph is returned to favour on the understanding he marry icy beauty Lady Julia, the daughter of rich, influential Lord Sangazure. Will Ralph accept these terms? How will Mary react if he does? A bleak melodrama - "it shows that even the consummate punster and vitriolic wit could turn his comic talent to horrific themes" - benefits from Gilbert playing it straight.

The Lady in the Plaid Shawl: A Scrap of Autobiography: (The Flags, 1908). While working as a war correspondent for The Observer, Gilbert claims to have fallen foul of husband and wife con artists in Paris. When later their paths cross in Covent Garden, Gilbert lets on that he knows the fellow is a scoundrel. All ends in cordial fashion.

The Finger of Fate: (Routledge Annual, 1990). A typically pompous Gilbert stuffed-shirt discovers to his horror that his fortunes are inextricably linked to those of a Mulatto woman to whom he has taken an instant dislike. Eventually a shipwreck sees both washed ashore on a desert island for 13 years. As a creature of proud NSOH disposition, I've no idea if Gilbert's jokes are still/ ever were "funny," but he can certainly tell a story.

Angela: An Inverted Love Story: (The Century, Sept. 1890). Venice. A one-sided romance played out to heartbreaking conclusion as an English invalid falls for an Italian girl across the canal.

In memory of Mr. Edmund Valkenberg, Sherlock Holmes and Gilbert & Sullivan enthusiast. Inspirational teacher.

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The Fairy's Dilemma: (The Graphic, Christmas, 1900). Supernatural comedy. In the mistaken belief that Miss Jane Collins, virtuous young governess, and Dr. Perkins are sweethearts, the Fairy Rosebud and her official enemy, Demon Alcohol, conspire to put right all the damage caused by their meddling. This takes the form of a spell cast over the four main players, transforming them into traditional pantomime characters. Protesting the while, Dr Perkins and Miss Collins are miscast as Harlequin and Columbine; the non-evil Baronet, Sir Trevor Mauleverer, is a clown; and Mr. Whortle, Cons., gets the worst of it ("And as for you, you priggish old buffoon/ be changed at once to senile Pantaloon"). Can Rosebud and the Demon prevent mutual embarrassment? Will we see a surprise fairy tale romance after all?

Comedy and Tragedy: (The Stage Door: Routledge's Christmas Annual, 1879). Paris, 1745. Among the several ardent admirers of Mlle. Celine, leading lady of the Theatre Francois, is a notorious libertine, Duc de Richelieu, whose improper conduct toward her so appals her husband, De Quilliac, that he demands a duel. The Duc, a master swordsman, refuses on the grounds it is beneath him to fight an actor. Exasperated beyond endurance, husband and wife contrive a ruse to force de Richelieu's hand. Celine's professional talents come into their own. If not quite a 'horror' story, the stage adaptation might have played the Grand Guignol as a sex farce.

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The Graphic, 27 May 1871

Creatures of Impulse: (The Graphic, Christmas 1870, as "A Strange Old Lady"). Mrs. Dorothy Trabbs, buxom landlady of the Three Pigeons Inn, is driven to distraction by an old woman who has yet to pay a farthing toward her room and refuses to leave. When challenged to do so by Peter, Mrs Trabbs' craven nephew, the old girl sprinkles him with a fairy dust, compelling him to punch anyone who comes near. Jenny, the landlady's frightfully proper daughter, tries flattery. She is bewitched to snog all comers for her trouble; Verditter the miser fatally offers a bribe of a gold guinea, and Sergeant Brice, the war hero, is reduced to a cringing coward. In short, any who dare cross her are rendered helpless but to act the opposite to their natural disposition. The supernatural squatter has them all where she wants them until she overplays her hand ... Later adapted for the stage, as was The Fairy's Dilemma, probably others.

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Returned St. Mary's Harrow-on-the-Hill and attendant haunted/ "haunted" sites across Wealdstone, Stanmore and, especially, Harrow Weald last Friday. Best part of day was wandering the woodland at and around Grim's Dyke, Old Redding, once home to WS Gilbert (he drowned in the lake there) and familiar to horror/ SF movie fans for it's guest appearances in Curse of the Crimson Altar, Cry of the Banshee, The Blood Beast Terror, The Haunted House of Horror, Zeta One, and various episodes of (among others) The Avengers, Dr. Who ("The Evil of the Daleks") and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Apologies in advance for trademark appalling photo's. Sadly, The Case is Altered (which also featured prominently, if briefly, in the aforementioned The Haunted House of Horror) recently closed "for good," future existence uncertain, following a protracted dispute with the council (something to do with attracting doggers, junkies and litterbugs). Happily, near neighbour The Hare, on the cusp of Weald Wood, looks to be going strong.