Tag Archives: Library

Diary entries which mention books and other publications read by Arthur Linfoot. See also Arthur Linfoot’s Library.

24 December 1914; Thursday

December 1914, , , , , , ,

[Christmas eve – See footnote1.]

At work as usual. Mill stopped at 6 o’clock a.m. We finished in good time and Tom Fagin† brought his gramophone across and played it until nearly 6 o’clock. I went up town at night and posted some Christmas cards. Called at station for Ernie but he didn’t arrive. Went up town later and called at Wiseman’s both in going and coming. Joe’s face swollen very much and he can’t go out. Bought Gertie a music case. And read a lot of The Manxman2 and went to bed about 1 o’clock. Charlie out tonight. Ernie arrived at Boldon with Hilda and the baby.

  1. ALL didn’t mention, and presumably hadn’t heard of, the first German bomb dropped on British soil on Christmas Eve, 1914. A single German aircraft (which appears to have got away unscathed), dropped a bomb which fell in a garden near Taswell Street in Dover, where there is now a blue plaque on the wall reading “Near this spot on Christmas Eve 1914 fell the first aerial bomb ever to be dropped on the United Kingdom.” ↩

  2. ALL had started to read this book a few days earlier, on 22 December. See The Manxman and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

21 December 1914; Monday

December 1914,

Busy at work all day. Read part of “The Manxman” 1 by Hall Caine. Played a bit. A good deal of Christmas excitement about.

  1. “The Manxman“: one of (Sir Thomas Henry) Hall Caine’s most popular novels. H.C. (1853­‐1931) was born in Runcorn, was secretary to D G Rossetti, and adopted the Isle of Man after DGR’s death; very popular novelist and literary figure in his day. See also: Arthur Linfoot’s Library ↩

6 December 1914; Sunday

December 1914, , ,

At chapel in the morning. Sung Jackson’s1 Te Deum. At Sunday School and got on fairly well. Lent Reverend MacDonald Stalker’s2 Life of Christ. Went with Charlie at night to North Bridge Street Presbyterian Church choir and helped in “Let the call of the Lord”. Good singing, nice church, poor preacher. Wild night. Missed Willie. Read a bit and wrote up diary. Tried Charlie’s new song over. At North Bridge Street Church.

  1. William Jackson of Exeter, composer, 1730-1803. ↩

  2. Stalker’s: J. Stalker “Life of Jesus Christ”, 1891 (now ISBN 9780766170469). See also The Life of Jesus Christ and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

The Life of Jesus Christ

James Stalker (1848-1927) was a minister, lecturer and preacher for the Free Church of Scotland. He wrote around two dozen books, the majority on Christian themes, the first of which, in 1879, was The Life of Jesus Christ.

The Life of Jesus Christ was enduringly popular, going through a number of editions and revisions over at least the two decades after its publication, and is still available today both in print and as an e-book.

On 6 December 1914, Arthur Linfoot wrote that he had “lent Reverend MacDonald Stalker’s Life of Christ”, presumably his own copy. The diaries do not mention when Arthur Linfoot himself had acquired or read the book.

3 October 1914; Saturday

October 1914, , , , ,

Got up 6.15. Had walk along Hendon beach and cliff with Alf before breakfast. Had a bit of a row with Willie about a football. Sent 5/-­ to Everyman1 for Persian relief fund. Went to Porteous and had another tooth out. Went to Roker at night with Willie and Charlie. Walked as far as Whitburn.

British troops in Antwerp2. Germans attack with artillery only.

  1. Everyman: see Everyman and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  2. “British troops in Antwerp”: See upcoming guest posts by Leading Seaman Arthur Hawes, which offer a first hand account of these events. ↩

21 September 1914; Monday

September 1914, , , ,

Very slack at work. Finished early. Got hair cut. Had bath. Read a good lot of Everyman1 and wrote up old diaries about the time I was commencing to go with Mildred†.

News to hand of the damage of the cruiser Pegasus by the German cruiser Konigsberg while she was at anchor and not under steam2. Also the sinking of 5 merchant ships by the Emden3 and the sinking of the Cap Trafalgar by the Carmania4.

The big battle in France still going on. Read Lloyd George’s speech.

  1. Everyman: see Everyman and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  2. Pegasus, a Tyne-built cruiser of 1897, was sunk by the Königsberg off Zanzibar. ↩

  3. SMS cruiser Emden was used as a raider in the Indian Ocean, and in September 1914 alone took over 20 British merchant ships, as well as raiding Madras. See also 29 Sept., 10 Nov., and note on 9 December. ↩

  4. Cap Trafalgar was a large modern German liner (1913, 23,640 tons) converted as an auxiliary cruiser, in service in the South Atlantic; she was found and sunk at a secret base in the Brazilian islands of Trindade, 500 miles E. of Brazil, on 14 September by the Carmania, another ex-­liner (1905, 19,500 tons) fitted out as an armed merchant cruiser; the Cap Trafalgar was thus the first ex-­liner to be sunk by another ex-­liner. ↩

26 August 1914; Wednesday

August 1914, ,

Busy all day. Finished in good time. Nothing very much from the front. Russian Army marching on Posen & Koenigsberg. Some very strong appeals being made for recruits. Prospect of the War lasting at least 6 months. Received photographs from “Everyman”1. One of Asquith, Carlyle and Carson. After 4 days fighting against overwhelming odds the British retire in good order. British lost 5/6000, Germans lost very much more.

  1. Everyman: see Everyman and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩