Antiquities & Oddities

//Antiquities & Oddities
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  • In the reign of James II, rejected love turns the exquisite, soulful Anthony Armadale into the grim, misogynistic outlaw Captain Midnight, the terror of the wealthy autocrats who consider themselves above the law. Encouraging him in his daring interventions between tyranny and and its victims, the little parson Aeneas Wade never guesses his identity. But the lovely Lady Clarissa Fane sees through the bitterness to the true man. This was Farnol's last book, finished in rough form before his death and edited for publication by his widow, Mrs. Phyllis Farnol.

  • Mary and Tony's parents do not take them to the seaside as usual for their holiday. Instead, they are going to have their holiday at Fallow Farm where they'll learn about animals both tame and wild.  This would not be a story with enough sophistication for modern children, but the illustrations alone make this a very worthwhile book.
  • Our story open thus: In the first quarter of the thirteenth century, the evil doings of King John were yet fresh in the minds of men all over England, and the indirect consequences of his evil deeds were still acutely felt, and nowhere more than in Bedfordshire, where the scene of our story is laid. The county itself has much altered in appearance since that period. Great woods, intersected by broad, soft green lanes, overran its northern portion. Traces of these woods and roads still survive in Puddington Hayes and Wymington Hayes, and the great broad "forty-foot." South of this wild wooded upland, one natural feature of Bedfordshire remains unchanged. Then, as now, the Great Ouse took its winding, sluggish course from southwest to north-east across the county, twisting strangely, and in many places turning back upon itself as though loath to leave Bedfordshire. Some fifteen miles from point to point would have taken it straight through the heart of the little county, whereas its total course therein is more like fifty. One poetic fancy likens the wandering stream to a lover lingering with his mistress...

     
  • Hiding under the witness protection programme, Rick Jarmin gets nervous when his old flame Marianne recognises him as her fiancè who vanished years ago. But before he can assume a new identity, the man he put in jail is released and comes to pay his respects. Rick and Marianne are thrown together on the run across the country, barely evading the police, gangsters and an amorous veterinarian. Also stars David Carradine, Joan Severance  and Bill Duke.
  • Mr Chipping, the new teacher at Brookfield School in 1870, finds that he must be a conventional and firm disciplinarian in the classroom to keep the boys in line. This does not make him exactly popular - but his views broaden and his pedagogical manner breaks down after he meets Katherine, a young woman, while he is on holiday. They marry and Katherine charms the Brookfield teachers, the Headmaster  and quickly wins the favour of Brookfield's pupils through her kind good humour. She gives her husband the nickname of 'Chips' to the delight of the boys and she teaches Chips how to have a joke with the boys and to close his eyes to some of their minor misdemeanours.  Chips' popularity soon rises and his career at Brookfield is very long - but he sees his 'boys' grow to become fine men who can meet the challenges of the sweeping world changes that occur over his long life. A simple, unforgettable and evergreen story that continues to win hearts today.
  • Frederic Slaney Poole (1845-1936), son of Judge  Thomas Slaney Poole, stepped off the St. Vincent at Port Adelaide on November 30, 1867  to work at the Poonindie Native Institution, was priested in 1869, and became incumbent of Robe, a vast parish. Before becoming headmaster  Christ Church Grammar School, Mount Gambier, he travelled to London and married Rebecca Scott. In 1874 be became incumbent of St John's, Halifax Street, Adelaide. Tall, thin, bearded and a keen sportsman, Poole was a popular preacher, fearless in denouncing commercial and sexual immorality, and with 'the reputation of being a man without cant … who is not above taking an occasional glass of whisky, and who would not express unbounded indignation if asked to participate in a game of billiards or cards'.  He was a lecturer in the classics; he conducted a school for choirboys; was chaplain to the Adelaide hospital, gaol and destitute asylum; and  was one of South Australia's first clerical Freemasons, helping to establish the Grand Lodge of South Australia in Adelaide in 1884. His descendant Cynthia has told his incredible story of his life, from horseback priest to Canon.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Slaney_Poole
  • A tale set in the reign of Charles II - kings and princes, cavaliers and courtesans, flashing blades and raking shot from tall ships. There are plots and counter-plots simmering under the glittering mask of court life and all Englishmen see a deadly threat in the ambitions of Louis XIV pf France. First published as Whitehall in 1931.
  • A treasury of all things Australian. Chapters include:  Popular Sayings, Jests, Rhymes and Anecdotes: Game?!  He's as game as Ned Kelly! No more sense than a koala bear, an' not half as good-lookin'. Or: He's as mad as a gum tree full o' galahs! Heroes and Rebels: Ben Hall and Ned Kelly, of course - and Peter Lalor, The Man With The Donkey and Les Darcy; The Yarn-SpinnersSilent Australians, Casual Australians, Bullockies, Shearers, Station Cooks, Swaggies and yet more characters but also including: Soldier Yarns, Bush Directions, Bushmen's Dogs and of course, Dad and Dave; Superstitions and Fallacies: Craig's Dream, Snake-Fallacies, The Town That Lost and more; Place Lore: Place names including - naturally - Fisher's Ghost Creek, Bread and Dripping Valley, The Never-Never and some local anomalies - The Man  Who Rode The Bull Through Wagga, the Dog on the Tucker Box; The Man from Snowy River and humorous signs; Australianisms: The Larrikin, the Push, Buckley's Chance, Furphy, Wowsers, Sundowners, Bunyips, Diggers and Drongoes; Perspectives: Contemporary accounts of Convicts and Governors, The Gold Diggings, Squatters and Selectors, Immigrants, Early Trade Unionism and Republicanism and Nationalism.