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Alma didn't waste a single second of her Christmas vacation!
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The letter fragment:
...we were surprised and pleased to see Mr. Sugathapala (cousin and fiance of Gertie Gomeratanayogi, a former WCC student whom I had one year in Botany): he had come up from Columbo to take us up Adams Peak. He had met us at the station in Columbo and when he heard that we wanted to go up Adams Peak he said he would like to take us up, but we did not expect him to do it. We are so glad he came. He made it much more interesting, as he talks both Sinhalese and Tamil and could talk where it was needed, and he knows the traditions of the mountain. It isn't merely a mountain. It is a shrine. We had a wonderful trip, one of the events of my life. Mr. Sugathapala is delightful - young but with poise; full of fun and companionable. He will be one of my favorite son-in-laws.
We spent Friday night in a rest home at Dambulla, north east of Kandy and then next to Polonnaruwa by motor. It rained all day Saturday so we spent only an hour visiting the ruins of the buried city. The Rest House was full but they stowed us away on a bark veranda. We are so elated over our Adams Peak trip that we do not complain about rain, and so disciplined to frugality and Spartan accommodations by our trip to the peak that even a bark veranda seemed luxurious.
It is cloudy today and has rained a little so we may have a hard time seeing the ruins here.
With much love,
Alma.
...we were surprised and pleased to see Mr. Sugathapala (cousin and fiance of Gertie Gomeratanayogi, a former WCC student whom I had one year in Botany): he had come up from Columbo to take us up Adams Peak. He had met us at the station in Columbo and when he heard that we wanted to go up Adams Peak he said he would like to take us up, but we did not expect him to do it. We are so glad he came. He made it much more interesting, as he talks both Sinhalese and Tamil and could talk where it was needed, and he knows the traditions of the mountain. It isn't merely a mountain. It is a shrine. We had a wonderful trip, one of the events of my life. Mr. Sugathapala is delightful - young but with poise; full of fun and companionable. He will be one of my favorite son-in-laws.
We spent Friday night in a rest home at Dambulla, north east of Kandy and then next to Polonnaruwa by motor. It rained all day Saturday so we spent only an hour visiting the ruins of the buried city. The Rest House was full but they stowed us away on a bark veranda. We are so elated over our Adams Peak trip that we do not complain about rain, and so disciplined to frugality and Spartan accommodations by our trip to the peak that even a bark veranda seemed luxurious.
It is cloudy today and has rained a little so we may have a hard time seeing the ruins here.
With much love,
Alma.
The program (not part of the audio reading because I'm still not sure it belongs here, and anyway I just didn't feel like doing it.)
ST. GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL
MADRAS
Carol Service
Christmas Eve 1936, at 6-30 p.m.
Vestry Hymn.
Carols.
Quintet.
Amen.
ST. GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL
MADRAS
Carol Service
Christmas Eve 1936, at 6-30 p.m.
Vestry Hymn.
- Adeste, fideles (18th Century Melody)
- God rest you merry, gentlemen (16th Century)
Carols.
- On yester night (13th Century)
- A Babe is born all of a maid (Traditional)
- The Coventry Carol (from the Coventry Corpus Christi Mystery Play, 1591)
Quintet.
- Sleep, holy babe (J. B. Dykes) (D. and E. Shaw, S. Gilbert, S. Edwin, and G. Herbert)
- When Christ was born of Mary free (arr. Sir J. Stainer)
- Silent Night (arr. Granville Bantock)
- A child this day is born (arr. Sir. J. Stainer)
- Good King Wenceslas (13th Century Swedish Melody) (D. Shaw and G.E. Walker, with Choir)
- Allegro Risoluto (E.H. Hollingham) (C.P. Daniels)
- Rocking (Sung by the children of the Cathedral School)
- In dulce jubilo (arr. by R. de L. Pearsall) (The melody of this carol was published in a German book of Protestant ritual in 1570. It is there referred to as a "very ancient song for Christmas Eve," and is evidently one of the ancient melodies which Luther, on account of their beauty, retained in the Protestant service. The original words are partly in Latin and partly in German; and a similar arrangement was made by Pearsall in translating them. In modern times, Statner adapted the melody to the Carol "Good Christian Men, Rejoice."
- The First Noel (with the congregation; the words will be found overleaf.)
- It came upon the midnight clear (arr. by Sir Arthur Sullivan)
Amen.
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1.
This letter got jumbled together with a slightly later one: I think I have it sorted correctly. At the moment we have just one sheet of paper for the letter, but that's better than none.
The envelope gives us a date of January 3, 1937, mailed in Anuradhapura in Ceylon. Ceylon is now known as Sri Lanka.
About Anuradhapura, Wikipedia says:
Anuradhapura (Sinhala: අනුරාධපුරය, romanized: Anurādhapuraya; Tamil: அனுராதபுரம், romanized: Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies 205 kilometers (127 mi) north of the current capital of Colombo in the North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malwathu Oya. The city is now a World Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins of the ancient Sinhalese civilisation.
2.
he had come up from Columbo to take us up Adams Peak. He had met us at the station in Columbo and when he heard that we wanted to go up Adams Peak he said he would like to take us up, but we did not expect him to do it.
I figure Alma and her party took a train down to the bottom of India, then a ferry across to Sri Lanka, then a train to Columbo, which is the capital of Columbo, but I don't know. About Adams Peak, Wikipedia says:
Adam's Peak is a 2,243 m (7,359 ft)-tall conical sacred mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the Sri Pada (IAST: Śrī Pāda; Sinhala: ශ්රී පාද, lit. 'sacred footprint'), a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) rock formation near the summit whose name is also used for the mountain itself. In Buddhist tradition the print is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Sri Lankan Hindu tradition that of Hanuman or Shiva (its Tamil name, சிவனொளிபாதமலை, Sivanolipaathamalai, means 'Mountain of Shiva's Light'), and in some Islamic and Christian traditions that of Adam or St Thomas the Apostle.
3.
We spent Friday night in a rest home at Dambulla, north east of Kandy and then next to Polonnaruwa by motor.
About Dambulla, Wikipedia says:
Dambulla cave temple (Sinhala: දඹුල්ල රජ මහා විහාරය, romanized: Dam̆būlla Raja Maha Vihāraya; Tamil: தம்புள்ளை பொற்கோவில், romanized: Tampuḷḷai Poṟkōvil), also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla, is a World Heritage Site (1991) in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country.[1] This site is situated 148 kilometres (92 mi) east of Colombo, 72 kilometres (45 mi) north of Kandy and 43 kilometres (27 mi) north of Matale.
About Polonnaruwa, Wikipedia says:
Poḷonnaruwa, (Sinhala: පොළොන්නරුව, romanized: Poḷonnaruva; Tamil: பொலன்னறுவை, romanized: Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, and the other part of Polonnaruwa remains as the royal ancient city of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa.
4.
The program for the Christmas Eve service tells us that Alma didn't go to Sri Lank0.a until after Christmas. It sounds like a very nice (and very English) program, and I can see why Alma would have sent it to Eva.
5.
It came upon the midnight clear (arr. by Sir Arthur Sullivan)
After all the very, very old tunes, we get something by a British composer, Sir Arthur Sullivan. I did not know that Sullivan had done an arrangement for It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. Of course I was able to find it on YouTube. I yield to no one in my admiration for Gilbert and Sullivan (that's an adaptation of a line from Iolanthe, which my mother said was Aunt Alma's favorite G&S operetta), but I like the tune by Richard Storrs Willis better. Sullivan's effort sounds more traditionally Christmas-like, but Willis's tune better captures the uniqueness of Edmund Hamilton Sears's words.
This letter got jumbled together with a slightly later one: I think I have it sorted correctly. At the moment we have just one sheet of paper for the letter, but that's better than none.
The envelope gives us a date of January 3, 1937, mailed in Anuradhapura in Ceylon. Ceylon is now known as Sri Lanka.
About Anuradhapura, Wikipedia says:
Anuradhapura (Sinhala: අනුරාධපුරය, romanized: Anurādhapuraya; Tamil: அனுராதபுரம், romanized: Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies 205 kilometers (127 mi) north of the current capital of Colombo in the North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malwathu Oya. The city is now a World Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins of the ancient Sinhalese civilisation.
2.
he had come up from Columbo to take us up Adams Peak. He had met us at the station in Columbo and when he heard that we wanted to go up Adams Peak he said he would like to take us up, but we did not expect him to do it.
I figure Alma and her party took a train down to the bottom of India, then a ferry across to Sri Lanka, then a train to Columbo, which is the capital of Columbo, but I don't know. About Adams Peak, Wikipedia says:
Adam's Peak is a 2,243 m (7,359 ft)-tall conical sacred mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the Sri Pada (IAST: Śrī Pāda; Sinhala: ශ්රී පාද, lit. 'sacred footprint'), a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) rock formation near the summit whose name is also used for the mountain itself. In Buddhist tradition the print is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Sri Lankan Hindu tradition that of Hanuman or Shiva (its Tamil name, சிவனொளிபாதமலை, Sivanolipaathamalai, means 'Mountain of Shiva's Light'), and in some Islamic and Christian traditions that of Adam or St Thomas the Apostle.
3.
We spent Friday night in a rest home at Dambulla, north east of Kandy and then next to Polonnaruwa by motor.
About Dambulla, Wikipedia says:
Dambulla cave temple (Sinhala: දඹුල්ල රජ මහා විහාරය, romanized: Dam̆būlla Raja Maha Vihāraya; Tamil: தம்புள்ளை பொற்கோவில், romanized: Tampuḷḷai Poṟkōvil), also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla, is a World Heritage Site (1991) in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country.[1] This site is situated 148 kilometres (92 mi) east of Colombo, 72 kilometres (45 mi) north of Kandy and 43 kilometres (27 mi) north of Matale.
About Polonnaruwa, Wikipedia says:
Poḷonnaruwa, (Sinhala: පොළොන්නරුව, romanized: Poḷonnaruva; Tamil: பொலன்னறுவை, romanized: Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, and the other part of Polonnaruwa remains as the royal ancient city of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa.
4.
The program for the Christmas Eve service tells us that Alma didn't go to Sri Lank0.a until after Christmas. It sounds like a very nice (and very English) program, and I can see why Alma would have sent it to Eva.
5.
It came upon the midnight clear (arr. by Sir Arthur Sullivan)
After all the very, very old tunes, we get something by a British composer, Sir Arthur Sullivan. I did not know that Sullivan had done an arrangement for It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. Of course I was able to find it on YouTube. I yield to no one in my admiration for Gilbert and Sullivan (that's an adaptation of a line from Iolanthe, which my mother said was Aunt Alma's favorite G&S operetta), but I like the tune by Richard Storrs Willis better. Sullivan's effort sounds more traditionally Christmas-like, but Willis's tune better captures the uniqueness of Edmund Hamilton Sears's words.
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