There was a raging wind outside last night and I woke up angry because so many of the leaves have now been ripped off the trees and the horizon is no longer a vivid mustard yellow. Who I was angry with, I don't know. The wind? I'm just grieving the passing of all those vibrant Autumnal leaves.
Last week on a walk in the beautiful yellow woods we ran into Mark rabbit hunting. He told us how he loves this time of year, it is the best season for getting outside and hunting rabbits. Summer is too hot for his ferrets and dogs. Now he can walk the land for hours on end, setting up nets at the entrance to rabbit holes and letting his ferret loose to chase the rabbits into the net.
I used to call Mark, 'rabbit man,' before I got to know him. This was due to the fact that I only knew him as a slightly scary sight walking down the country lane carrying a spade, a wooden box and 2 or 3 dead rabbits slung over his shoulder. He eats the rabbits himself and sells the excess to the local butcher. One of the Nigerian University students was delighted to run into him on a day trip to Loseley. He quickly bought 2 of Mark's rabbits, delighted to find real food for sale and not the plastic wrapped supermarket stuff. It makes me smile to think of the devastation he must have wrought in the hall of residence kitchen skinning and gutting the rabbits!
It was while we were talking that I thought about the fact I was in the company of Matthew and Mark. All I needed were Luke and John and we would have the 4 gospels covered. I spent the rest of the walk pondering who could play the part of Luke and decided to name the white ferret, Daisy Duke ( Dukes of Hazard). Looking back across at Loseley I remembered that the house is linked to John Donne and there was my solution : Matthew, Mark, Duke & John!
So when you look at the photo below, think of a wild, passionate man named John who set his heart on the young lady of the house above. A man who spent his inheritance on travel, literature and women. A man who studied at Oxford when he was 11 years old and then at Cambridge, where he finished his studies but never officially received his degree because of his allegiance to the Catholic faith. ( His mother was the great-niece of the Roman Catholic martyr Thomas More.)
John was aiming for a diplomatic career having mastered Spanish and Italian from his travels. He ended up working in London for a very influential man with an attractive niece, Anne More.
Let your imagination flow and create an image in your mind of a secret wedding ceremony held just before Christmas, round about this time of year. Imagine the outrage in the family as word spread of this rebellious act. John married his sweet maiden without permission from her father. As a result he was fired by Anne's Uncle and sent to the local prison in Fleet where he wrote his new wife this famous line ....
" John Donne, Anne Donne , Un done ! "
John was released from prison but he and Anne then lived a relatively poor life relying on rich friends and relatives before he was pushed into ordination in the church where he proved himself a passionate preacher. I find John a very intriguing man, he never published his poems but he is now remembered after his death for his poetry and his role in the church. An interesting man who didn't like playing by the rules or submitting to the system, his desire was to truly understand what it is to be human and to know God without the religious nonsense.
" No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent." John Donne
So there you are, a blog post that started with my grieving for all those lovely leaves that are now lying on the ground. Here ends my tribute to Autumn colours, inspired by a walk in the woods with Matthew, Mark, Daisy Duke the ferret and John Donne.
( By the way, what became of John's sweet wife? She died after giving birth to 12 children after 16 years of marriage! )