A British King

After all the disagreements, raids incursions and invasions, the crowns of england and Scotland were united in the wisest fool in Christendom, James Stuart. James shook the smoke of Auld Reekie, Edinburgh, from his garments and rushed away down to London as soon as he heard Queen Elizabeth of England was dead. His royal household, tailors, hairdressers, cup bearers and kitchen staff, rushed after him, only to find a kitchen staff already busy in the palace. With their strange accents and rude manners, they stood out like bees in a wasp nest. Most decided to go back to Edinburgh and a band of them were set upon by the London mob. Unlike today's MPs, James was too busy enjoying his new luxury apartments to pay any attention and it created ill feeling out of which should have come brotherhood. The real tragedy was that Jimmy had come from an environment where he depended on the support of his barons to rule, even to keep his head. As a boy, he'd been captured and recaptured by one lot, then the other  but now he found they thought of him as the Big Chief and people fawned on him, so he taught his son to behave as a real king should, and, of course, he lost him his head.

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Guns Report on Bismark

While they were on London leave after the Bismark incident, Vernon was walking down the street when someone came out of an office and called to him. It turned out to be one of the officers. 'I think I have something that might interest you, Brilly,' the officer said and gave him a few sheets of paper. To Vernon's surprise it was the report Guns had made out about the Bismark engagement. It speaks for itself, so I am attaching the image I took of the brown old paper Vernon showed me in Cape Town.
While the Bismark incident is well known and the rest of Vernon's story doesn't have the same historical significance, it is a very human story and worth telling.www.sullatoberdalton.com/books

As HMS Dorsetshire was undergoing her refit, the sailors were allowed leave. The South Africans were told they could stay in Devonport or go to London, where South Africa House would look after them. Vernon decided to go to London and in the city heat decided to get a drink. Little more than a teenager, he found a pub, saw what he assumed was bottles of the apple drink he had known since a boy and asked for a bottle. It tasted fine and he asked for another. The barmaid looked at him and asked if he was sure. when he said yes, she gave it to him but kept watching him. Vernon enjoyed the second bottle, still felt thirsty and asked for another. The barmaid asked the barman is it was all right. The barman spoke to Vernon, who told the barman, they drank that stuff like lemonade in South Africa. The barman looked doubtful but gave Vernon another bottle. Vernon told me - he nearly made it outside but the next he remembered was being in hospital after the scrumpy cider had been pumped from his stomach. When he was telling me the tale, he smiled ruefully and said it was lucky the barman had called an ambulance instead of the Military Police, the MPOs would have thrown him in jail. After the refit, the Bismark sneaked out to be chased by men like young Vernon from around the world, including South Africa.

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