The Chair of the Society, Seona Ford, has been delving into Dorothy L Sayers’ letters. Our late President, and friend of Dorothy L Sayers, Dr Barbara Reynolds, undertook the mammoth task of editing the letters of DLS and produced five handsome volumes. These are a treasure trove of information about DLS’ - often robust - views on many things and a chronicle of the daily life a writer. Seona wrote the following for our September Bulletin:
“This year we have missed our usual celebration of the birthdays of DLS and Barbara Reynolds. When I was thinking about this the other day I thought I would go back to The Letters and see what I could pick up about birthdays, particularly those of DLS of course but also in the last few years, those of Barbara as well, after they discovered that they shared the same birthday. Naturally the selection of letters precludes the likely mention of birthdays every year but a pattern emerges, based on age and mortality. The earliest mention is in 1909 and from there until 1926 the selected birthday letters written to her parents show that they displayed generosity to her for which she reciprocates with real affection. There is no mention between then and 1932 when it is greetings from Cousin Ivy that she acknowledges (her parents had both died in the late 1920s). From 1938 until 1952 we only hear about DLS’ birthday in response to greetings from John Anthony. Then the last few exchanges in the 1950s are between DLS and Barbara. In 1909 she thanks her parents for organising a theatre trip for her; she went with her cousin Raymond to see The School for Scandal – she had the “most superlatively glorious time”. In 1914 she thanks them for a “ripping” brooch which was “exactly the colour I was pining for.” She also attends a dinner at which they “made me sing two folk-songs”. By 1918 she is receiving “very generous cheques” with which she intends to buy “all sorts of useful and decorative things…”. In 1920 she is in France working with Eric Whelpton and has made a “daring speculation” with her birthday money and bought a “very decent viola”. In 1922 she thanks her mother for the birthday present and good wishes – “bless you lots of times!” She sends a similar message in 1923 saying she intends to buy “something suitable to whatever weather is then current!” In 1924 she says she will buy a “late extravagance in the way of stockings!” In 1926 (now married) she sends thanks for “your letter and good wishes.” After a gap Ivy is thanked for her good wishes in 1932 and between 1938 (when he was 14) and 1952 a number of birthday greetings are recorded from John Anthony (JA) . Perhaps the most interesting of JA’s letters comes on 23 June 1940 when she writes: “…As regards the Harvest Camp – of course there ought to be no question of asking my permission. You must do whatever the Government wants you to 4 do, as we all must, without delay or question. Tell your school authorities so. Harvest camps are asked for, and obviously every able-bodied citizen of school age (JA was 16) must take part. Apart from that: stay where you are. You are probably as safe in Oxfordshire as anywhere. This part of the country (DLS means southeast England) is more immediately threatened. If I should be killed in an air-raid, you and Aunt Ivy must at once get into communication with my solicitors, (name and address given) who have my will and know how to act. There will not be very much money I am afraid – nobody will have much money when this is over, even if all goes as well as we can hope. It is not possible to plan out anything for the future. I shall try to pay out the school fees as long as is necessary. In the event of a German occupation of this country, which is possible, though I think not probable, be careful not to advertise your connection with me; writers of any sort will not be popular with the Gestapo. If there should be any question of evacuating to the Dominions, on the other hand, I will take what measures I can. But we are in the front of the battle now, and the great thing is to stay put and work at whatever the defence requires…Do not be troubled because you are afraid of being afraid. Everybody feels like that. It doesn’t matter, and is nothing to be ashamed of. Do what is asked for – that is all that matters.” She ends the letter with the quotation associated with St Julian of Norwich: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all shall be very well.” If you have the opportunity to read all of this letter please do so. I find it fascinating on several counts: the honest appraisal of the situation, including the likelihood of her being persona non grata with the Gestapo, the way in which she is writing to a 16-year-old with blunt advice and the reference to her possible death – and her faith. Finally in 1955 and ’57 letters are included in response to greetings from Barbara. In ’55 she simply says “thank you so much for your birthday card – Many happy returns!” but in 1957 she writes “thank you for the birthday verses and Adrian for his card”. We can only wonder about the verses, presumably written by Barbara herself – perhaps in terza rima to emulate their beloved Dante! I fully expect that some of you will now find more birthday references – in fact I think there are some letters to her parents that refer to how birthday money has been spent at a later date. However I think I have gathered nearly all the references that are published. I also perused My Edwardian Childhood in Volume 5 but could find no more references. My tentative conclusion is that birthdays were not very important to DLS and suggest two reasons why: the overt/lavish celebration of birthdays is a more modern phenomenon on the whole, and the fact of DLS being an only child meant that occasions such as birthdays would have probably been low-key affairs without even a sibling to share a family occasion.” Seona
