It was brought to my attention yesterday that David Rattray had been murdered. Who was David Rattray I hear you ask. Well, those of you who been to see the film "Zulu" and then been hooked on the subject of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 will have come across the name by now. He was a great historian on the subject and built himself a lodge for his family in the Battlefields area of KwaZulu Natal, not far from Fugitive's Drift, from where he would take parties of tourists into the areas of Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift and tell the stories of the battles. These tourist would be spellbound by his tales and, invariably, would be reduced to tears as the sun went down and the significance of what they had heard began to sink in.
His writings included the first accounts of these battles taken from the Zulu point of view.
I'm certain that those of us who have been involved with any research, however small, will miss the magnificent input and enthusiasm that David Rattray imparted. It is such a cruel ending to the life of this truly enigmatic family man who was, indeed, a great friend of Africa and the Zulu nation, as stated by Paul Boateng, the British High Commissioner in South Africa.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Happy New Year!
Just in case you all thought that I been abducted over the 'festive season' I have returned to plague you with more 'thoughts as they hit me' as we go forward into 2007!
Christmas has come and gone with the usual over-eating and drinking and, the best bit as far as I'm concerned, meeting family and friends. A chance remark made whilst in a mellow mood was made by me and it went something like this.
"2007 is to be the year that I learn to cook". I was rather ashamed that I had got to the age of 70-plus without any real culinary knowledge. I even went on to say that I would go out and buy myself a hand-blender. Needless to say, when I opened one of my presents it was a ... hand-blender. Somehow the news had spread and over the next few days there appeared a Soup Recipe book and a book of 400 recipes using only three or four ingredients (plus some bits and piece from the store-cupboard. On New Year's Eve, we had a bit of a party and my contribution was a plate full of chicken legs either coated in a sticky honey and mustard and Soy glaze or cooked in a marinade of coconut cream, coriander and lime juice. To my absolute amazement they flew (sic) off the plate and the comments were very encouraging.
I hope I can keep the interest going ... correction ... I know I can keep it all going!
So I hope you are all going to keep coming back for more of my ramblings and I shall try keep them more structured.
Christmas has come and gone with the usual over-eating and drinking and, the best bit as far as I'm concerned, meeting family and friends. A chance remark made whilst in a mellow mood was made by me and it went something like this.
"2007 is to be the year that I learn to cook". I was rather ashamed that I had got to the age of 70-plus without any real culinary knowledge. I even went on to say that I would go out and buy myself a hand-blender. Needless to say, when I opened one of my presents it was a ... hand-blender. Somehow the news had spread and over the next few days there appeared a Soup Recipe book and a book of 400 recipes using only three or four ingredients (plus some bits and piece from the store-cupboard. On New Year's Eve, we had a bit of a party and my contribution was a plate full of chicken legs either coated in a sticky honey and mustard and Soy glaze or cooked in a marinade of coconut cream, coriander and lime juice. To my absolute amazement they flew (sic) off the plate and the comments were very encouraging.
I hope I can keep the interest going ... correction ... I know I can keep it all going!
So I hope you are all going to keep coming back for more of my ramblings and I shall try keep them more structured.
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