Signs of the times

Press, 30 December 1980, Page 9

Signs of the times

Collecting with Myrtle Duff

Tomorrow will be the last day of 1980 — Hogmanay, described in most dictionaries as a corruption of a Norman French expression having something to do with the collection of Mistletoe.

Obviously, the word came to the Normans from ,a more ancient tongue. The English lexicographer, Randal Cotgrave, writing in. 1611, calls :t “the voice of the. country . folks begging small presents.” He indicates that the term derives from. that used by the Druids to describe the celebrations .which followed annual sacrifices and mistletoe gathering. Mistletoe was believed to be effective against al! poisons.

In Scotland the term has continued in use to describe the last day of the year, and the traditions and customs which accompan" it. Children chanting the rhyme “Hogmany, .tTrollalay, Gie’s o’ your white bread ancr.nane o’ your grey” go the rounds of their friends and neighbours and are rewarded with oat-cakes and other gifts and small sums of money. Older folk usually make their calls later in the day when the magic hour of midnight approaches. “First-footing” can then begin. > I do not know of any particular item associated with the New Year which might be of interest to collectors, but this would certainly be a good opportunity to ado to your autograph collection.

New Zealanders generally seem to follow the Scottish custom of making calls on friends and family, so if you have received an autograph album among your gifts. — or even a Visitors’ Book which to some extent seems to have replaced the autograph album — there could be no better time to begin your collection or to add to an existing one. An autograph is something written entirely in the hand of the person concerned. It need not be accompanied by a signature, although modem custom usually requires this. The habit of collecting such things appears to have started in Germany

in the middle of the six- ' teenth century when students began to carry about with them for this purpose small pocket volumes known as “alba amicorum.”

Once established the craze soon extended back into the past, and signatures of the .famous and infamous were eagerly sought. When asking things pertaining to the mighty and the famous, royalty must always come to mind. Such signatures are difficult to obtain even today, but before the reign of Richard II in the fourteenth century they, were non-existent.

Two signatures of this monarch, one from 1386 and one from • 1389 are held in Britain in the Public Record Office, and another from 1397 in the British Museum.

Saxon kings never signed their names and their Norman successors merely added a cross to documents' always’, written by official scribes. •’ This custom must have made things a little easier for a forger. We are told in the Book of Kings that Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal. Collecting autographs was a popular diversion in early colonial days in New Zealand. It seems to have reached a peak round the turn of the century, and in the early decades of this century. I have just been reading with great enjoyment an album bound in what was once dark green leather but now appeas almost black. It - has the word “Album” in gold on the cover.

The front page carries two entries, one by Jessie McPherson dated 18.7.08, “Evil wrought for want of thought ! as well as want of heart,” and the other inscribed over a postage stamp, “By gum I’m stuck” and signed Jessie Eyles on the. 4th of August, 1909. , The second entry is by the same lady • who had now married the owner of the book, Cecil Eyles. I am not sure if the feeling of permanancy about the marriage, vow prompted the later entry. In addition to the usual comments from friends and acquaintances, the

book also includes the signatures of a number of world famous people who visited New Zealand in those early years. Some, too, from Australia, where Cecil Eyles was bom and apparently began his autograph collecting. Among them are the pianist, Paderwiski, who later became Prime Minister of Poland, Hall Caine, a well known author of those days, Mark Twain, who needs no description, and Baden Powel. I think my favourite entry is the advice of a

Yorkshireriian to his son about to visit London for the first time — probably well known to people of Yorkshore-descent, but new to me: “See all an’ say nowt, Ait all an’ pay nowt, An if tha ivver feels like dewing owt for nowt, New it for thi’sen.” High prices ■ for autographs are sometimes reported from overseas market places, but it not wise to hope for riches from your collection unless you or your immediate fore-

bears have been keeping rather strange company. Apparently the highest bids are always offered for the signatures or handwriting samples of notorious criminals or other evil doers. The price paid for Adloph Hitler’s autograph at a recent sale set a new record. As with all collections, it is better to do it for the interest and pleasure to be derived from the hobby. Well, Happy Hogmanay and drive carefully so that you mav live to collect another year.