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[Page 115]
November 15
Mail last night from Victoria: This week is missing the Literary Supplement.
Due now from T.B.C. 'Good Friday', 'Twinkletoes' and "Sacrifice", 'Philip the King' and the two books from Beaumonts – so looked forward to, still to arrive. The 15/- from Nick to go to Bakers, after 'Chastelard' arrives, for Collected Poems of James Elroy Flecker….
Parade at 10 and foot inspection parade again at 11 and a route march till 12.30, Dinner directly on return….
Major Frizelle reported slowly mending – still too bad to move though and Capt. Black, wounded in a Artillery Detail, still dangerously hanging on….
Wrote this morning to Windsor & Newton for general catalogues.
127.
Evening, ..Johnny back from leave…. I asked him a while back, "Well Johnnie, and how's old Edinburgh looking!" "Oh, very quiet – just the same… a bit quieter than before the war… Not many men about – but plenty of Aussies!"
This afternoon directly after dinner off by self with Keats, for a walk across fields behind us… a mile away in a valley of three hills, a shepherd and his sheep.. a rustick loveliness, land of softly rising lawns and straight lines of trees… and straight bounding a dawdling road a wood of green lichened trees, and foliage of "Autumn's gawdy liveries"… deep over the red pathway soft layers of large fallen leaves.. silence broken only by a sudden startling of some birds, black silhouettes against flecked gold. .. A passionate paganism was the spirit of the place… a desire to assume the atmosphere and rush madly over the dead-leaved carpet- to spoil with red blood the beauty of a white-gold naide.
At the other side of the wood faintly through the tall trees and high undergrowth foliage, sweeping pasturing land of soft buff colours, and blue hills behind.
Our original intention was on going down to the stream for a bathe.. a quick crystal stream over smooth coloured stones,..Eric G. & Frank S. and self..they working though in Orderley Room.