A summery memory

On days like this, when the darkness descends upon the North and makes the bright summer night seem like naught but a memory, one needs to dream of a warm evening.

This is an excerpt from In Gowan Ring's performance in Maridalen outside of Oslo this summer. A magical evening of fantastic food, good drinks and exquisite company. Thanks so much to Mr. Folky Churchwarden for bringing In Gowan Ring to Norway once more.



An interesting recapitulation of the evening (in Norwegian) can be found here.

Masculine mysteries

The Unbearable Bassington-Bassington?

A kind gift from a friend led Lord Bassington-Bassington to ask the inevitable question: Is someone trying to tell His Lordship something?

The Unbearable Bassington is a cracking read, by the way: Saki is a writer Lord Bassington-Bassington is terribly fond of, especially his weird stories. A dapper dresser he was, too.



Saki in 1913

Lord Bassington-Bassington would like to thank Mr. Hansen for the gift, and remind the latter that His Lordship owes him a book or three.

Tartan Tuesdays: Swedish accessories

Swedish accessory specialist Mannby & Rörling was first brought to Lord Bassington-Bassington 's attention by that illustrious Swedish association known as The Drones Club.

Mannby & Rörling's business idea (though M & R looks more like a hobby than a business at this point) is irresistible: Small-scale production of handmade bow ties, ties and pocket hankies. Mannby & Rörling seem open to interesting challenges, too - the diamond-tip bow tie in tweed they created for The Drones Club is nothing less than stunning.

A pocket square in their Tartanic pattern might perhaps match Lord Bassington-Bassington's beloved tie in Singh Tartan.



And the fabric makes for a stunning bow tie, too.

Wreathy good

While shopping online for King Dude vinyls, Lord Bassington-Bassington came across Wreathes, which were described, bizarrely (but enticingly!) as a "Perennialist pop unit".



This seems to be a promising band to follow, and their debut single is already a treasured part of the record collection here at Bassington Manor.

And for some reason, the video made His Lordship think of Rasputin.

Satanic curses

Cursing. Most humans do it, but if you ask Lord Bassington-Bassington, they tend to do it badly. Curses usually revolve around references to human copulation (disgusting stuff, in any Basset hound’s opinion) or blasphemy (boring, to anyone grown up on heavy metal). The art of cursing needs to be rescued. And who better to teach the world the noble art of cursing than a Satanist?



(Photo: Carl Abrahamsson.)


Enter sharp-dressed iconoclast Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan. Like most religious teachers, be they Christians, Muslims (or, indeed, Humanists) Lord Bassington-Bassington has his his differences with Mr. Lavey's teachings, but he has usually gotten on swimmingly with LaVey’s followers (and LaVey himself, the one time His Lordship was fortunate enough to spend some time with him). They are simply nicer than they would like you to believe.

But not only was LaVey the founder of one of the most interesting new religious movements of the last century, he was also a master curser. This list is of creative curses is from a copy of The Cloven Hoof, issue 129 (1997).

"for the love of mike!" – "zounds!" – "for pete's sake!" – "gadzooks!" – "for crying out loud!" – "criminetles!" – "leaping lizards!” – "pish! tosh!" – "hell's bells!” – "suffering succotash!" – "cheese and crackers...(got all muddy!)" – "land's sakes!" – "me oh my!" – "well, blow me down!" – "what the hey!" – "son of a gun!" – "hail columbia!" – "well, i swan! " – "son of a bee hive!" – "swear to god!" – "hot dog!" – "gol dang it!" – "i'll be buttered!" – "gosh darn it!" – "what in blue blazes!" – "dag nab it!" – "what the sam hill!" – "doggone it!" – "what the deuce!" – "i'll be doggoned!" – "dog my cats!" – "jiminy crickets!" – "good grief!" – "shoot!" – "holy cow!" – "fiddlesticks!" – "by golly!" – "i'll be a monkey's uncle!" – "gripes!" – "egads!" – "jeez!" – "you're full of prunes!" – "by golly!" – "none of your beeswax!" – "by gum!" – "for criminy sakes!" – "by jupiter!" – "shucks!" – "omigosh!" – "what the (heck!)" – "excuse my dust!" – "don't stop now!" – "by heck!" – "this'll kill ya!" – "you don't say!" – "oh, fudge!" – "good grief!" – "h-e-double toothpicks!" – "good heavens!" – "land sakes!" – "go to blazes!" – "sakes alive!" – "heavens to betsy!" – "well, i'll be!" – "jumping jehosephat!" – "great scott!" – "lord love a duck!" – "great balls of fire!" – "holy moley!" – "glorioski!" – "saints preserve us!" – "land o goshen!" – "good gravy!" – "tarnation!" – "consarn – "shiver me timbers!" – "yumping yimminy!" – "oy, veh iz mir!" – "if dat don't take de cake!" – "shut my mouth!" – "yikes!" – "mama mia!" – "the cat's pajamas!" – "the monkey's instep!" – "s.o.b!" – "son of a sea cook!" – "son of a biscuit!" – "pshaw!" – "bushwa!" – "zut alors!" – "aw, nertz!" – "oh, nuts!" – "golly!" – "golly gee!" – "holy moses!" – "by jove!" – "gosh almighty!" – "goodness gracious!" – "good gravy!" – "by george!" – "great guns!" – "holy cats!" – "confound it!" – "gee whillikers!" – "gee whiz!" – "godfrey daniel!" – "cut it out...you're – killin' me!" – "good heavens!" – "holy smoke!" – "by cracky!" – "my stars!" – "judas priest!" – "bless my soul!" – "upon my word!" – "the cat's meow!" – "jiminy christmas!" – "blimey!" – "honest injun!" – "caramba!" – "i'll be a dirty – so and so!" – "i'll be darned!" – "how d'ye like that!" – "whadda ya know about that!" – "gimme a break!" – "hang it all!" – "ain't it the truth!" – "shadrack, mesach, and a billy goat!" – "three cheers & a tiger!" – "aw, figs!" – "fan my brow!" – "tan my hide!" – "great day in the morning!" – "glory be!" – "holy mackerel!" – "heavenly days!" – "stuff and nonsense!" – "my aching back!" – "for pity's sakes!" – "whadda ya gonna do!" – "that's telling 'em – "well, strike me pink!" – "you don't say!" – "sez you!" – "so's your old man!" – "your mudder wears army shoes!" – "go chase yourself!"

Lord Bassington-Bassington would like to thank Reverend Kevin I. Slaughter for transcribing this list.

So, by Jove, go out and curse!

Riding low

Not real hounds, either.

They might move into a collectible box set, though.

Royal Dudery

It might not be the best band in the universe, as their take on neofolk tends towards the formulaic. They definitely do not have the best name. Still, Lord Bassington-Bassington has a rather large soft spot for King Dude.

Despite their flaws, King Dude have a lot going on for them, in His Lordship's humble opinion. Not only do they play neofolk that's a bit punky, something Lord Bassington-Bassington quite appreciates, they also have a fine sense of the mystical.





And when they also have the good taste to get their recordings issued on vinyl, it’s impossible for a certain long-eared Lord to not want to support them. So His Lordship have recently purchased Tonight's Special Death...



...and the re-release of My Beloved Ghost on Bathetic Records.



And while researching this little blog post it was brought to His Lordship's attention that King Dude have yet another record out soon on Dais Records. Definitely something for His Lordship and other neofolk connoiseurs to pre-order!

The Shining

Mark Powell.

And if, like Lord Bassington-Bassington, you'd like to see the film again but thinks it has too few characters with long ears in it, His Lordship would like to recommend the bunny version.