Straight on Till Morning Page 10

  It must have been difficult at first for owners to accept that this attractive young girl, still childlike in her manner, could possibly make a successful trainer in such circumstances. Of course she had had a spell of success some years earlier, but then she had the backing of a husband, and operated from established racing stables, and it was easy to assume that she had merely inherited the work and support of an existing team. Now Beryl had to prove her ability all over again by producing winners from unknown horses. She had as her working capital a remarkable talent and capacity for hard work and she was supremely fit. Doreen Bathurst-Norman recalled a story which Beryl had told her of her time at Nakuru. Once, when mounting a particularly temperamental horse, Beryl was flung across the yard and slammed down on her back across the stone water trough. This was enough to break her back but she escaped with minor injuries, and although the muscle webbing had been torn from her ribs, she got back on the horse immediately and rode it.59

  In April 1926 Tania Blixen wrote to her mother: ‘I saw Beryl recently, she seemed very happy, working hard training racehorses, I think she is probably very good at it. It seems to give her only just enough to live on but she finds it a very pleasant change from marriage. She looked fine, had just driven her car down from Nairobi along the most impossible roads where nobody else could get through…’60

  Wrack, the chestnut colt, was fancied by Beryl as a potential winner of one of the two big classic races – the East African Derby or the St Leger. When she moved to Nakuru, Wrack went with her, sold by the Carsdale-Lucks to Mr E. Ogilvie-Boyle along with Melton Pie. Beryl trained Wrack to the hilt with the St Leger in mind, and was deeply hurt when, after an argument, his owner removed him from her stable three months before the race and placed him with a rival trainer.61 Ogilvie-Boyle sold his other horse Melton Pie to Major Cavendish-Bentinck and Beryl continued to train this horse until she bought it herself in the following year. And fortunately there was another horse on which to pin her hopes of a classics winner – Wise Child, a filly which belonged to Captain Eric Gooch, a family friend of long standing.

  This filly was impeccably bred out of Clutterbuck’s good mare Ask Papa by Wise Dove – a stallion imported by Eric Gooch. The Wise Dove progeny were to shine in subsequent years in Kenya racing circles and Wise Child was among the best of them. She was considered to be the best three-year-old in 1925 but developed ‘a leg’ before the Derby and could not run. Knowing that the horse needed special training, Beryl took her on and got her fit again. Sonny Bumpus, then a very young amateur rider but nevertheless one of the best in the colony, had also suffered a disappointment when the horse he had in training for the race broke down. Beryl asked him to ride Wise Child in the St Leger.

  On Saturday 7 August 1926 under the headline ‘Wise Child Wins the St Leger’ the East African Standard stated: ‘This day can be written down as one of the most successful in the history of racing from any point of view. It certainly indicates that racing in Kenya is increasing in popularity…Scotch Bitters lost six lengths at the start. Restless made the running for a mile when Wise Child came on to win in a canter.’ The result was: first Wise Child; second Restless, third Foolish Pride and fourth Scotch Bitters.

  The report does not reveal that Wise Child broke down a few yards from the winning post when a tendon gave out, and she passed the post on three legs. Nor did the report give Beryl credit for training the winner, which was described as ‘trained by owner’. But the people who mattered knew that Beryl had been training the horse, and the nail-biting finish gave Beryl her first classic winner. She gave Sonny Bumpus a silver cigarette box to commemorate the occasion, which he treasured until his death in 1985.62

  Wrack did not run in this St Leger, although he was a declared entry, and in West with the Night Beryl uses the race as the scene of a dramatic contest between Wrack and Wise Child. In fact the race that Beryl wrote about so convincingly never took place. It was merely a vignette, the sum of Beryl’s experiences, triumphs and disappointments distilled into what has been described as the most exciting and moving description ever written of a horse race.

  The two horses did race together on other occasions but never in the manner which Beryl described. In February, whilst Beryl was still training Wrack, the colt had romped home by three lengths clear to Wise Child’s poor third place. On another occasion described in the East African Standard in October 1926 when Beryl was training Wise Child but not Wrack:

  Camiknickers (owned by Mr & Mrs Birkbeck), lost a length at the start, Wrack was early in the lead followed by Wise Child and Trouble. Five furlongs from home Dovedale improved and joined issue with the leaders, and with Wise Child breaking down a good race was seen for the post…Result 1st Dovedale, 2nd Wrack, 3rd Trouble, 4th Wise Child.

  This result also indicates how Beryl embellished the facts in her memoir, for in West with the Night the story ends happily ever after, with the owner declaring that the gallant little mare deserves never to have to race again. In reality, despite her weak tendons Wise Child made regular and successful appearances on the racecourse for some years.63 When she did eventually retire she proved a gold mine to her owner at the stud.64

  At twenty-four, Beryl had every right to enjoy her success. She had worked hard, and had earned her place in the male-dominated racing circle. She often rode Pegasus to winning places in local gymkhanas and races,65 and had a wide circle of admirers. She would have been a saint if she derived no pleasure from a comment in the 15 January 1927 edition of the East African Standard: ‘Wrack is an unlucky horse, continually running second. He has not won a race since leaving Mrs Purves’ stable. Evidently the air at Nakuru agreed with him better than that at Nairobi does!’ She was no saint, but the perfectionist within her would have been deeply sorry that the talented colt had not achieved the brilliant career she could have helped him to gain.66

  Lord Delamere invited her to train from his farm at Soysambu, but here Beryl’s personal accommodation consisted of one of the horse-boxes, tastefully furnished with a table, chair and a bed which, with a zebra-skin thrown over it, also served as a sofa for visitors. Yet it was an improvement over Nakuru.

  An acquaintance remembered her father, one of Beryl’s owners during these years, saying that Beryl always submitted her accounts written meticulously in her own hand and always accurate.67 Later, there were many people in Kenya who said that Beryl was virtually illiterate, but these claims are at the very least exaggerations. Beryl’s learning process was ill-disciplined, not absent.

  It took a particular type of intelligence, as well as immense skill, for a young, unprotected woman to succeed in ‘a man’s game’ in Kenya, at a time when women in England were still excluded from the profession of racehorse training. It is therefore tempting to compare Beryl’s life at that time, when she was successfully competing with long-established male trainers such as Spencer Tryon (a contemporary of Clutterbuck’s who had a clear field until Beryl’s entry into the lists), with the advice being ladled out on the women’s pages of the East African Standard. There, more homely virtues for women were stressed, in notes on ‘The Registration of Servants’ and ‘Comfort for the Convalescent’. No one seemed to think her position in any way odd, and in the same edition of the newspaper appears the comment: ‘Mrs Purves holds a very strong hand with both Charlatan and Welsh Guard (ex Camsiscan) in her stable.’

  Beryl achieved her pole position in a remarkably short time, chiefly because of her ability, but also because she was free from the feelings of constraint that beset many of her female counterparts.

  By the mid 1920s Kenya society had undergone a significant change from the days of the pioneer communities. This has been attributed to the huge influx of Soldier Settlers and other hopefuls, together with a new prosperity and the general frivolity of the bright young things in the Jazz Age after the horrors of the First World War. Many of the new farms which had sprung up in the highlands were large and comfortable, built of stone with panelled rooms, containing sumptuo
us furnishings. They were surrounded by smooth, well-groomed green lawns and staffed by armies of servants, in the style of English country houses.68

  In the more opulent of these homes dwelt the lotus eaters of the so-called Happy Valley set; many were the younger sons of wealthy English families, victims of the English law of primogeniture. Unlike the hard-working settlers they had regular incomes and with no need to work they established a lavish and frivolous lifestyle which included a seemingly endless round of picnics and house parties, where champagne flowed and casual love affairs between the guests were the order of the day. Their meeting place in Nairobi was the Muthaiga Country Club, and it was here that Beryl was to meet many of this privileged (and some say much-maligned) coterie.

  Beryl’s involvement with the people of the Happy Valley was insouciant. She was always attracted by the titled, rich and famous, and although she joined in the high-spirited activities at the fabled Oserian (or the Djinn Palace as it was known), and other up-country retreats, she never became a full-blooded member of the set.69 But she enjoyed the fun and high spirits of their never-ending parties and for the next decade Lady Idina, the Errolls, the Carberrys, Kiki Preston, Alice de Janze, the Soames, the Broughtons – all the leading members of the now infamous clique, were among her closest circle of friends. However she was never a party to the reported wilder excesses such as drug-taking.70 ‘I always thought she was a very quiet person,’ said the late Sonny Bumpus. ‘At a party you would often see her quietly sitting in a corner talking seriously to someone. She was not pretty, more inclined to be beautiful with a tall, slim figure and a graceful, sort of slinky walk.’ 71

  Her close friend and one-time jockey Buster Parnell disagreed with this quiet image of Beryl, though he himself was not living in Kenya at the time, as Sonny was. Buster recalled that Beryl told him with glee of the time when at a Djinn Palace party, she climbed into the back of a parked Buick with an amorous companion. To her astonishment she found herself sitting on the naked bodies of a lady and gentleman she knew rather well, and who had got there first. The lady, who was to become a neighbour some years afterwards, was not amused and bit Beryl’s little finger nearly through to the bone. The incident cooled the ardour of both couples and the two women never spoke to each other for forty years.72

  The description given by Sonny Bumpus of her ‘sitting quietly’ seems to describe a peculiar characteristic which several informants mentioned, and which I noticed particularly. There was, at times, a stillness about her which somehow conveyed an immensely powerful personality. It was not done consciously and she was quite capable of throwing off the mood with a bright remark, ‘Oh for heaven’s sake, let’s have another drink!’

  On Saturday 19 March 1927 the colony read the following announcement in the East African Standard over their breakfast coffee:

  Engagement. Watson–Clutterbuck

  The engagement is announced between the Hon. Robert Fraser Watson, 2nd son of the late Lord Manton and Claire Lady Manton of Offchurch, Bury, Leamington and Beryl only daughter of Mr C.B. Clutterbuck late of Njoro and Mrs Kirkpatrick.

  Clara Kirkpatrick and her two Kirkpatrick sons were now living at Limuru. When her second husband died he left her the sum of £173, and she was therefore forced to rely upon the generosity of her relatives for her income. Probably her allowance provided a better standard of living in Kenya than in England, otherwise it is difficult to know why she chose to resettle there. If she sought a reunion with her daughter she was disappointed. Beryl enjoyed the company of the two young boys and referred to them as her brothers,73 but she was always cool towards Clara, though she saw her often and even stayed with her on occasions. Pamela Scott remembers Clara and Beryl as being ‘very alike physically. Both were very tall and slim, with brown hair and blue eyes, and both were very striking.’74

  The engagement was far from a blissful interlude, and spiteful rumours regarding Beryl’s behaviour circulated in Muthaiga and throughout the colony.75 Whilst preparing for her forthcoming marriage to Bob Watson, she continued with her career and at the July race meeting she not only won the two major events but also won three races on each day. She was in great demand socially and despite the ostentatious presence of a large engagement ring was seen out ‘on the town’ with several well-known gentlemen. One of these was Mr Mansfield Markham. Karen Blixen again: ‘Bror, whom I met in town last Monday…has been taken on by Mansfield Markham, and his brother Sir Charles Markham.’76

  The colony had hardly digested the news of the Watson–Clutterbuck engagement announcement, and decided whether or not to accept the wedding invitations, when another announcement appeared on 27 August 1927. This time Beryl’s surname is given as Purves rather than Clutterbuck, as in the previous notice.

  Engagement. Markham–Purves

  The engagement is announced and the marriage will shortly take place between Mansfield Markham, second son of the late Sir Arthur Markham Baronet, and Mrs James O’Hea of 20 Hyde Park Gardens, London, and Beryl, only daughter of Mr Charles B. Clutterbuck and Mrs Kirkpatrick of Kenya Colony.

  This second advertisement not unnaturally provoked a great deal of amused speculation within the colony, whose chief occupation and innocent delight was social gossip. But the amusement was not confined to the colony. The story reached London, and the watchful eye of Rose Cartwright, who was back in London for a while, working for the Daily Express on society stories.77 The next morning UK readers were able to discover:

  REAL LIFE SERIAL STORY

  Two Engagements in Three Instalments

  A serial story with the facts set down, but with all the explanations provocatively left out, has been running since Friday of last week in Newspaper columns. It is a disappointing story in one way, for the last chapter leaves the reader with an unsatisfied middle-chapter curiosity. The first instalment appeared on Friday. Here it is:

  The engagement is announced between the Hon. Robert Fraser Watson, second son of the late Lord Manton and Claire, Lady Manton of Offchurch, Bury, Leamington Spa, and Beryl, only daughter of Mr C. B. Clutterbuck late of Njoro and Mrs Kirkpatrick, of Sey, Kenya Colony.

  Tuesday’s instalment brought a complication, for it was announced that ‘the marriage arranged between the Hon. R. F. Watson and Mrs B. Purves will now not take place.’

  The serial concluded yesterday, only three days later [sic] with the announcement:

  The engagement is announced from Kenya Colony between Mansfield Markham, second son of the late Sir Arthur Markham Bt, and Beryl, only daughter of the late [sic] Mr Charles B. Clutterbuck and Mrs Kirkpatrick of Kenya Colony.

  The English papers got it wrong on two counts; firstly there was a gap of five months between engagements, but the news of the first engagement had only reached London in August, hence the ‘story’; secondly the ‘late’ Mr Clutterbuck was very much alive and was only ‘late of Njoro’! I was unable to discover any information about the first engagement except a generally held opinion that ‘Watson had a lucky escape!’

  Tania Blixen kept her mother up to date on Beryl’s affairs with the report that she was lending her house to Beryl and Mansfield to use for a honeymoon: ‘Beryl’s wedding takes place on Saturday and I am going into Nairobi for it so I don’t know if I will be able to write on Sunday, but I will send a postcard anyway…I do hope they will be happy, and won’t express any more of my well-known doubts about marriage – but this one seems to be more of a lottery than usual!’78

  The newspaper reports of the wedding followed shortly, as promised, only a week after the engagement announcement.

  Saturday September 3rd 1927.

  The Markham–Purves Wedding.

  A quiet but fashionable wedding took place on Saturday morning at St Andrew’s Church Nairobi when Mrs B. Purves of Njoro, was married to Mr Mansfield Markham the second son of the late Sir Arthur Markham, Baronet.

  The service was choral and the church was beautifully decorated for the occasion with most artistically arranged bougainvillae
a and arum lilies. The bride entered the church escorted by Lord Delamere who subsequently gave her away.

  She wore a simple bridal frock of cream crepe-de-chine, with plain tight-fitting sleeves. The bodice of the frock was figured in silk and over the skirt was a long silver fringe which emphasized the softness of a very becoming gown. A narrow scarf with deep fringe to match the dress was worn around the neck. The close fitting hat of fine silver plaited straw was trimmed at the side with soft white feathers and cream stockings and silver kid shoes completed the toilet.

  The bride received at the door of the church, from a Somali servant, her bouquet of lilies. The bridegroom was attended by Mr A.C. Hoey of Eldoret, and the best man and Mr Pelham-Burn acted as M.C.’s

  After the service which was conducted by the Rev. J. Orr, minister of the parish, the bride and groom left the church amid a shower of confetti under crossed racing whips bearing the bride’s racing colours and marking her association with the world of racing in Kenya, where her activities have been so prominently and beneficially centred.

  A wedding luncheon was held at the Muthaiga Club when Lord Delamere toasted the health of the bride and groom and Mr Markham responded.79

  Tania’s weekly letter home recorded: ‘The wedding took place yesterday and went well in every way – the ceremony…and lunch at Muthaiga. Delamere gave away the bride, who looked so lovely – I had provided the bouquet of lilies and white carnations. We were 65 at lunch. Delamere and the bridegroom spoke…the lunch was excellent. I sat on the bridegroom’s right, then the “best man” and then the bride’s mother, so that was really very nice. They went off joyfully covered with confetti, poor things.’80 Later, mentioning a blocked tear duct which was causing her problems, Tania wrote that tears had been running down her face at Beryl’s wedding ‘so unceasingly that everyone must have thought I [was] in despair at not getting Mansfield myself – or plunged in the most sorrowful memories…’81