John Betjeman, Lawn Tennis, and Lord Farnham’s pretty daughters

From 1941 to 1943, poet and journalist John Betjeman was Britain’s press attaché to Ireland and, although his interest in Irish affairs was more poetical than political, the reports were regularly written with a tone of ‘understanding and tenderness’. During his time in Dublin, he got to know Eamon de Valera and it was said the pair remained good friends. The poet recommended to the British government that, if they wished to entice Ireland to join in World War Two, they must first remove the Irish Border, which he considered might be a good start. He also informed them that de Valera was Britain’s best friend in Ireland. Betjeman would produce a number of poems and articles about Ireland too.

He had many Irish friends - some being of the aristocratic kind, others were poets, like Patrick Kavanagh from Co Monaghan. Indeed, Kavanagh was so taken with Betjeman that he wrote a poem in honour of Betjeman’s daughter, Candida. Patrick Comerford in his blog notes that in another Kavanagh poem, a line reads, “Let John Betjeman call for me in a car.”

Cavan Lawn Tennis

In youth, John Betjeman, the celebrated English poet, who had been ejected from Oxford by Irishman C.S. Lewis, would travel to Ireland on vacation during the 1930s. He liked to stay in the stately homes of the landed gentry, including Farnham, the home of Lord and Lady Farnham in Cavan. Betjeman was after all, ‘the snobbish lover of beautiful houses’, as his biographer, A.N. Wilson puts it, in the BBC documentary Betjemanland. Moreover, he enjoyed the eccentricities of the landlord class.

In a letter wrote on September 13, 1930, he told his friend Patrick Balfour (who himself was staying with Lord and Lady Longford at Pakenham Hall, Castlepollard) about his delightful attendance at a tennis tournament in Cavan Town. The annual tennis competition in September was organised by Lord Farnham at the Lawn Tennis Club, Cavan. The eagle-eyed Betjeman observed the hands-on approach by which Farnham did all the umpiring, and how the peer even partook in the strenuous activity of carrying the ‘bucket of sand to the spot ‘where the competitors serve’.

The tennis competition took place on Saturday, September 6, 1930. The Belfast Newsletter reported: ‘County Cavan Lawn Tennis Club held their annual tournament last week. The weather was ideal during the tournament until about 5 (o’ clock) on Saturday afternoon, when some heavy showers spoiled the finals. There was a record entry of over 200. Some excellent play was seen in the championship singles.’

The local player and holder of the cup for the ladies singles was the Honourable Verena Maxwell whom the cheering crowd had ‘confidently’ expected to win. Much to their disappointment, she was defeated in the third round by a ‘well-known Wexford player’, Miss Furney, 6-3, 7-5.

The Cavan contingent had also expected Mr T.C. McVeigh to win the men’s championship after ‘a fine display of tennis’. McVeigh went into the final round having not dropped a single set, defeating Mr F.B. Henry ‘in two straight sets’. The final saw McVeigh pitted against Mr Jeffers from Wexford. Both played under what the Belfast newsletter called ‘trying conditions’, so far ‘as the weather was concerned’. A full list of the entrants into the tournament are listed in the newspaper. Unfortunately, there are too many names to reprint in this column.

Verbena and Verbosa

Following the frolics on the tennis court, Lord Farnham, otherwise known as, Arthur Kenlis Maxwell, 11th Baron Farnham, had much to the delight of the young English poet, organised a dance in the ornate surrounds of his house at Farnham. The Farnhams informed Betjeman and his pals that it was ‘very supporting’ of them to have ‘come several times’ to Cavan to see them, and yet that did not prevent the poet making a few irreverent remarks about them. Betjeman had a humorous, if not mischievous streak, and liked to poke fun. He could be comically unsparing in his writings about the people and places he went.

On Farnham, Betjeman wrote, ‘his house is called Farnham’ and added that the owner ‘has had to sell most of his furniture leaving the house a little bare’. Betjeman’s objection to the bareness of the property was all but compensated for, by the ‘acetylene gas’, which he said made a ‘brave show’, as did the lady Farnham herself, whom he wrote ‘has an unfortunate habit of winking’.

Neither of Lord Farnham’s daughters were spared the poet’s pen and he informs Balfour he has given them the names ‘Verbena and Verbosa’. About Verena Maxwell, he wrote, ‘I fell in love with Verbena, and danced with her. She is very London.’ Betjeman, it appears, was quite taken by the two Farnham sisters who he thought were most pretty. The Farnham daughter referred to as ‘Verbosa’ was Marjory Maxwell. One wonders what the Farnhams would have thought had they read their poetical guest’s disparaging remarks about them.

Balfour was then requested by Betjeman to write to Lord Farnham, whom he adds is ‘badly off’ and in appearance is ‘just like a pear … tall and slim’. By September 27, Betjeman was on his way back to London and he planned to stay with his old friend Patrick Balfour, who by then had returned to the city.

One of my favourite quotations, made by Betjeman on Ireland, appears in another letter to Balfour wherein Betjeman exclaims: ‘To right and left rise round towers …ruined abbeys, ruined castles and prehistoric camps, I am in heaven.’ As any tourist will agree, the scenery and historic landscape of Ireland, and the attractions and greenery to see in each county, is indeed heavenly beyond doubt.

John Betjeman’s poetry is widely celebrated for being accessible to people of all walks of life. In 1972, he was appointed the English Poet Laureate. Famously, his childhood teddys Archie and Jumbo were both in his arms when he died in 1984.

The letter on the Farnhams, was published in ‘John Betjeman: Letters Volume One 1926 to 1951’, edited by Candida Lycett Green.