No man is an island
(1624 Book by John Donne)
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This is . . . a tale of history,
really.? It's a love story.? And it also explains how the Wexford Musical
Festival in Ireland came about.
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It concerns London in the early
seventeenth century when the pilgrim fathers put in to James the First for a
charter to leave these shores.? And find
a quicker way of getting rich on the shores of America.? They just escaped.?? It was the first charter flight, actually,
in history.
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And we are concerned with two men
and a girl.? A loveless love story.
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The first is John Donne.? John Donne was a kind of poet, a mystical
pet. He's also a semi-clergyman. John Donne used to take services, not
important services, just the evening: quickies.
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Morning services were grand and
lots of choral singing.? And it was just
a sermon and a Gregorian chant.? It was
Some Enchant at Evening.
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John Donne was in love with this
girl, Ann Moore.? She was always loved by
another chap called Norman Conquest.
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Now Norman Conquest was a rather
flash character, unlike John Donne.Norman Conquest was slashed doublets and
purple hose.? And he had an Elizabethan
beard, like a ferret's armpit in a high wind. And terminal acne.
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Now both of these were in fact,
during the day, were broadcasters in a sense that we would call them now.
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Because the old Wooden O on the south
bank had spawned these chaps who wanted to take broadcasting outside the
theater.? To broadcast, in fact, they
went round with big megaphones.
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Norman Conquest used to sing all
the popular songs and he was called Woody-O One.
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John Donne used to do interviews
on the street corner with people. And he was called John Donne or Woody-O One
Four.
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And Ann Moore decided to marry
Norman Conquest.? And John Donne was
shattered by this.? So he laid plans.
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And he knew that Norman Conquest
was frightfully ambitious and wanted to be a big thing in show business.
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And there was this Yorkshire schoolmaster,
failed, called Wexford Squares, who wanted to go to Ireland and form this arts
music festival.
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And John Donne said, "I'll give
you a sum of money to set it up if you'll take this Norman Conquest as the
festival supervisor.? Because he'll jump
at the chance.? And it'll get him out of
the way and I'll be able to marry my sweetheart, Ann Moore.
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But Ann Moore said she was going
to get married to Norman Conquest.? And she
asked John Donne to conduct the marriage service.
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So, there they are.? There's Ann Moore waiting.? There's John Donne with the prayer book.? No bridegroom.
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And the bell starts ringing.? Quarter to three.?
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She said, "WHERE IS HE.? MY GROOM. How long does the bell toll?"
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John Donne says, "Ask not
for whom the bell tolls", Swiftly passing the prayer book to the real
vicar and taking his place beside Ann.
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He said, "It tolls for us.? Norman is in Ireland."
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Frank Muir
880912a
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download at
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?v3enu1jvwhgbf38
