1 7 Dec 15 My fa2 No letter, & I wanted one so badly. I expect it is a case of Sunday
posts, & hope most sincerely it does not mean a poor little pale animal
with a very bad head—ache. I want to hear you are safely back from your Mission to the
wild Irish, &to know you have not been knocked down by the wild sea
horses or the other terrible animals you may have had to contend with! I have replied to Hugh's letter & suggested that the speech which he
proposes Carm should make should be on these lines "Now that Irishmen
& Englishmen & Scotsmen have shed their blood side by side in the cause of
. . . . it is quite unthinkable that any one of them will wish to
cut himself adrift from the other, or to found a separatist parliament!" I asked him whether he would approve & to say what the result would
be in Ireland! I also pointed out that the principal points in the political fence from
the Irish point of view had been 1) to pass Home rule after the war had begun
(this I omitted) 2) to stop the temperance reform initiated by L G
3) to prevent any steps (last except an emasculated form of
registration in Ulster) stop being taken in Ireland like the rest of the U K for Servia
4) to contribute the smallest possible numbers to
the forcing of their coreligionist. I might have told him on the other hand what was done by the Ulster
men who were fighting now against Germany who in former days they
regarded as the brave ideal of Protestantism, but instead I tried an olive branch
saying that I did think the religious divisions, which were an unhappy
factor (tho' not the principal one) in the case were being broken down &
reconnected here last Sunday our men who in the dark were marching through 2 the streets singing hymns, hushed as
they passed the RC church in service. Last night there was a great discussion between L Farnham on the one
side &Singleton & Gus Nugent on the other as to whether the Irish were
musical. I supported the former in saying they were naturally very musical
tho' they were not good performers themselves either from lack of means or
opportunity. S was very contemptuous & when I supported F was inclined to
be rude about my qualifications. L F got very heated &I thought it a pity
again that G N should as usual deny his countrymen, tho' it is of course
quite reasonable for him to hold such a view. Unfortunately it is the rule
with him to do so &I hear that he regretted that the 108th Bde should
have got a GOC Griffith with Irish blood! What are your views about the Irish
musical tastes?? H P left yesterday & I hear the men gave him quite a good send off
&that he was much touched. I think they believe he had more
to do with things in the past than was the case. This will, I fear
lead to further distrust, &to less of the Ulster spirit, but the reconsti
tution of the 108 &109 Bdes takes place on Friday, & the 16th under
their new CO Ashton rejoins the latter, & the 11th their former 108
Bde. This will simplify your transactions as now there is
one complete Bde 12th, with which you will have no dealings. I hope to get a 1/2 day out tomorrow &may perhaps visit
Gen Rimington of the Indian Comt before he leaves. We expect to settle
in to our new Corps next week without having to move just yet,
but we are very much on the balance if anything turns up. I can so sympathiz with McPherson in having found himself
dropped because he came out too late or too soon! Must end, but I still find the pr very troublesome persistent at night tho sometimes she is more helpful than troublesome. Wilfrid B Spender Your B W 3 I meant to go to bed early but I see a chance of 10 mins peace &
will begin a letter to you. 1st when you are working &have to consider not only your com—
forts but also your health &work I want you to feel that I think it
right for you to do things comfortably to travel 1st class &to take taxis. The time may come when we shall not be able to manager to do
such things, but at present thanks to the rubber bounce we can quite
well in spite of the fact that we are giving over 1/3rd of our income
to the Government. If rubber continues over 3/— we shall actually be as
well off this year as when the pr popped the bw into her burrow. Of course this cannot last, &after the war rubber will collapse with
a pop — the market thinks so by the low price of shares —, but I want
my pr not to be worn to a scarecrow whilst she is alone, but to have
a nice little plump hug for the bw. You realise Matur's view &
will I know do nothing to spoil the happiness you have been to her.
I am writing this lest the pr may think she must try to hard to
act up to the b'w's former instructions, &to please him by stinting her
real requirements. By the way bw sounds uncommonly like bow wow! Just got your Belfast letter telling of a calm crossing to Ireland
I do hope your return will be as good but we are having gales here & I
hardly think it possible. I have got enough work on hand to keep me quite busy & have rather
taken the bit in my teeth in regard to 2 jobs letting others correct, but
doing the work myself first 4 7 Dec, HP learns today. I saw him yesterday & I fear had to fib. He said he was
not sorry to leave, but I hastily changed the subject! The 108 & 109 are to rejuvenate to their old conditions, ie the
11 RIR goes back to the former & the 14th to the latter very shortly. I am very
glad of this. A new Col has been appointed to the command of the 14thPhan
inform Sir G. Col Ashton — I know nothing about him. You had perhaps better not know of the change of battalions in the
committee till it is officially out tho' you can tell Lady that it is in the air. I had a rather angry letter from Hugh in answer to mine of on
Redmond's speech, which I will forward later. Apparently my letter has been
forwarded to J. Redmond!! It will do him good as I suggested he should
be muzzled till the end of the war. Yes a Div has a rest camp of its own under one of the F Ambus
at present the 109 F Am, but I should consult the OC FA before sending instru—
ments. I'm not mute if I should appreciate music. Last night several bodies
of our men were marching through the streets singing hymns & quite
well. It was very dark or they would not have done it. Doesn't
that prove the latent Covenant spirit? Longing to hear of your safe returns. I'm most anxious
to keep you altogether! Says it is like having the b w in the house!!! Ever your b w
Wilfrid B Spender
Please thank Jon for his letter always welcome