Willie Subeditor (with Pierre Bosman) on The New Sjambok and The New L. S. D. Later worked as an artist in Durban, where he painted a portrait of HCB in the late 1940s, never completed (see RB: 99).
“Chanson d’Automne” (Fr.) Lit. ‘Song of Autumn’; poem by Paul Verlaine (L&O: 85 “A Letter from Hades”).
chapeau(-bras) (Fr.) Three-cornered hat (CSJ: 140).
chaplet Wreath to be worn on the head (H: 254 “In the Old Days”).
Chaplin, Charles (Charlie) Spencer (1889–1977) English-born actor, director and composer who found enduring fame in Hollywood as the iconic, dishevelled, bowler-bearing, cane-carrying little tramp (CJ: 30 “Art Notes on Charlie Chaplin”).
Charles I (1600–49) King of England, Scotland and Ireland whose reign was marked by religious friction leading to the First and Second Civil Wars; at the end of the second he was captured and tried and executed for high treason; thereafter the monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth of England was established – a constitutional monarchy (W: 197).
chases See forme(s) in the chases.
chateau (Fr.) Large house or castle (CSJ: 140).
Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith) (1874–1936) Prolific English writer on diverse subjects whose wit and eccentricity influenced other artists such as Ingmar Bergmann, Franz Kafka, Ernest Hemingway and, more recently, Neil Gaiman (CJ: 108 “Christmas Celebrations”).
Chic Modes Dress boutique in the main street of Kalvyn owned by Dulcie Hartnell; the name is carefully chosen to make sense in French, English and Afrikaans (JN: 58).
Chilvers, Hedley A. (1879–1941) Born in England, he came out to SA for health reasons. Joined The Rand Daily Mail in 1905, on which he served as music and drama critic. The author of many books, of which his The Seven Wonders of South Africa (1929) is probably the best known. It features a chapter called “The Makapaan Cave Affair”. Given the popularity of the book, it is possible that it inspired HCB’s own (very different) version (see “Makapan’s Caves”). Chilvers also contributed to The Touleier.
chivvy/chivvied To be repeatedly told to do something (CSJ: 122).
“Christmas Celebrations” (CJ: 108) Notes on various celebrations across the world. Diverting piece weaving history and anecdote into a plea for true nativity celebrations, yet steers clear of any religious sentiment.
Ciano, Gian Galeazzo (1903–44) Italian minister of foreign affairs and Mussolini’s son-in-law (CJ: 189 “The Rt. Hon. J. H. Hofmeyr”).
Cicero, Marcus Tullius (106–43 BCE) Noble-born Roman philosopher and statesman (JN: 80; CJ: 94 “The Disappearance of Latin”).
Circe Minor goddess from Greek mythology who could change humans into animals (YB: 58 “Heloise’s Teeth”).
“Circumstantial Evidence” (H: 76) The conclusion of Pauline Gerber and Schoolmaster Vermaak’s courtship, snidely speculated upon for the first time by the Marico gossips in “New-year Glad Rags” (IT: 161). Sharp observations on the reliability of hearsay evidence. “‘Doesn’t it strike you, at all,’ Johnny Coen asked, ‘that it can’t both be true, these two different stories about how the schoolmaster came in the end to ask Pauline Gerber to marry him? Don’t you think it’s possible that perhaps both those stories are lies, I mean.’ We were very shocked to hear Johnny Coen using language like that.”
“Class Snobbery in Britain” (CJ: 89) Notes on the class divide. Prescient and amusing assessment of the future of English nobility. “‘I am only a working man, but –’ seems to me the most unfortunately self-righteous platitude that there is in the whole world.”
Claassen, Andries Farmer who bemoans the fact that modern young people buy shredded tobacco instead of slicing it from the roll with a pocketknife (UD: 35 “Picture of Gysbert Jonker”).
claim-jumping The act of usurping a claim held by another (W: 50).
Clark, Mavis Daughter of Mrs Clark and typist of Jack Brummer, she is described as follows: “She was in a dull way inclined to be pretty” (W: 25).
Clark, Mrs Influential socialite and Union Party member; she is the mother of Mavis Clark, to whom she hints at some interesting escapades in her youth (W: 24).
“Clay-pit, The” (OTS: 115) A variation on the classic love triangle between a young woman, a young man, and an older man. A different, more powerful, more complex, and more finished version of “The Ox-riem”. Veldkornet Apie Nel “would not be able to look back on his career with a proper kind of satisfaction if, at the end of it, he would have to admit that he had never succeeded in getting a white man hanged.” See “Reminiscences”.
Cleghorn’s Cleghorn & Harris, department store (OTS: 90 “Louis Wassenaar”).
Clements, Francis Chamberlain Zulu who has been ‘elevated’ and educated by missionaries and academics (YB: 131 “The Urge of the Primordial”).
Clifford, Lago English actor who came to SA in 1902; his voice (as ‘Uncle Joe’ in pioneering radio broadcasts of the mid-1920s) became well known to South Africans. Participated in vaudeville theatre and Stephen Black’s touring companies. Was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment for pederasty and there met HCB in 1928. Wrote a series, while in prison, for Black’s The Sjambok, entitled ‘Men I Met in Gaol’, which featured HCB anonymously in July 1929: “The most interesting and intellectual man I met at the Central Prison was a young student – refined, creative, poetical [… .] To me he was like an oasis in a desert” (see appearance). Clifford also made a detailed sketch of the gallows for The Sjambok (28 June 1929).
“Climbing Table Mountain” (CJ: 131) Fifth in a series of travel pieces (see also note on CJ: 208). Tongue-in-cheek description of a city slicker nervously roughing it in the great outdoors. “Even to the untrained eye the line of demarcation between those giant oceans is easily discernible. It is a thick straight line that looks as though it was drawn with a ruler.”
Clinkwood A corundum prospector from the Kwaggapeul region who gives Jack Brummer a start when he turns up unexpectedly (W: 39).
Clown, the A naive young prison guard who is mercilessly teased by HCB on death row, and who unknowingly every night – with tacit encouragement from HCB – washes his hands in the drinking water of Jannie, the guard who had the next shift; Jannie then curses the cleaning staff for not rinsing the buckets properly (CSJ: 53).
Code Napoléon Also known as the Napoleonic Code, it was established under Emperor Napoleon I and prohibited privileges based on birth, guaranteed religious freedom, and promoted government positions based on merit not favour; favourite topic of the failed lawyer Herklaas Huysmans (JN: 83).
Coen, Johnny Lesser character in the Voorkamer stories; a hopeless romantic, he can be trusted to engage in unrequited love relationships, as occurs with Pauline Gerber and Minnie Nienaber; also often tries to make peace among the adversaries of the voorkamer. See Voorkamer sequence.
Coertze, (Lucas) Ignatius (1905–90) Dean of law, poet, and general renaissance man who is rumoured to have designed the prototype of the safari suit, but – according to HCB – an ‘unspeakable’ translator of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (VS: 182 “The Poetry of Elisabeth Eybers”).
Coetsee, Mr Bekkersdal bank manager who refuses At Naudé an overdraft (H: 239 “Bekkersdal Centenary”).
Coetzee,
