Review by CFZ

A kind review of my first book,"The Legend of Salt and Sauce", was published in the most unlikely of places, issue 44 of "Animals and Men" last summer. The magazine is connected to the Fortean group and has a website http://www.cfz.org.uk/ dealing in zoology and cryptozoology. Being a sceptic the last time I read about the Forteans was in the now classic "Fads and Fallacies" written by Martin Gardener.

Image via Wikipedia

Nevertheless, I also used to read Fortean Times and was often impressed by their journalism - there was a thorough debunking of Sawney Bean for example. CFZ assure me that there is a wide scope of contributors to their website (from the scientifically sound to the wildly esoteric) and asked me whether I would blog for them, which is something I would be happy to do. Here is their review, for

Image via Wikipedia

which they have kindly allowed me to reproduce:

The Legend of Salt and Sauce: The Amazing Story of Britain's Most Famous ElephantsBy Jamie Clubb and Jim Clubb

Paperback: 148 pages Publisher: Aardvark Publishing Language English ISBN-10: 187290436X ISBN-13: 978-1872904368 Salt and Sauce were two Asian elephants owned, for a while, by the elephant trainer George Lockheart. They had been wild caught in the 1890s and brought by the legendary animal dealer Carl Hagenbeck.

They were part of a group of performing elephants known as the 'Cruet', others being called Pepper, Mustard and Vinegar. What made Salt and Sauce so special is the conflicting stories about their nature and the long life they spent together in zoos and circuses under differing owners. Ultimately they caused the death of two of their owners.

Father and son team of Jamie and Jim are well known in the zoo and circus world as experienced keepers, trainers and zoo historians.

In this unique book they have tracked down old photographs and records of the animals throughout their lives. They also interview folk who had first hand knowledge of the animals.

Some recall the beasts as unpredictable and dangerous, other as placid and loveable. What was the real story of the elephants that were known to have killed two men? Were they panicked into such actions, were the animals genuinely aggressive, or was it a case of poor training?

As a zookeeper myself and one who has lost a friend through an elephant attack, this proved to be a highly interesting book. Not only for looking into the circumstances behind the two incidents, but for the long and engaging story of the career of the elephants who were still working in the 1950s.

All in all a remarkable book in the same vein as David Barnaby's 'The Elephant that Walked to Manchester'. A must for all interested in zoo and circus history. RF

Damoo Dhotre: Notes on his career with Alfred Court

The following are notes taken from circus/zoo historian and wild animal trainer, Jim Clubb (my father). They are a response to questions asked of him by a descendent of the great Indian wild animal trainer Damoo Dhotre. From 1938 until 1952 Dhotre was in the employment of the legendary French wild animal trainer, Alfred Court. Court was a massive inspiration of my father's. You will note that Dhotre presented snow leopards, trained by Court. They were the first snow leopards ever trained. Bailey Fossett was the second person to train this species and my father was the third.

Damoo Gangaram Dhotre: Brief History from when he joined Alfred Court

1938: Damoo joined Alfred Court at the age of 36 to present Court’s new group of small cats (leopards, black panthers, jaguars, pumas and the only trained snow leopards in the world). He arrived in Paris and went to Liege in France to work at Circus De Jonghe. This was a small circus that took the act in its first season to break it in to the lighting, music and public.

1939: Blackpool Tower Circus, Great Britain. The act consisted of 15 mixed small cats (seven Indian and African leopards, two black panthers, two black jaguars, two pumas and two snow leopards). Damoo usually worked the matinees (afternoon performances) and Court worked in the evening. Because of the outbreak of war, Court left Blackpool half way through the season and went to Europe to organize the sale of some of his animals to other circuses and the transportation of two of his large mixed groups to go to Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus in the USA at the end of the 1939 season.

Court originally left to go to Berlin to organize a winter engagement for the mixed leopard act, but while he was there he was informed of the imminent outbreak of war. The Germans invaded Poland while he was in Berlin, so his plans changed overnight. While he was away Damoo presented the act, assisted by Wilson “Willy” Storie, Alfred Court’s nephew and business manager. After the first week of the season, the male snow leopard, Niet, died of pneumonia.

December 1939: The animals, accompanied by Damoo and one groom, left from Liverpool docks on the American ship, “The West Chatala”, heading for New York. The journey took two weeks and experienced bad weather conditions. They eventually arrived in the USA and were transported by rail to Sarasota, Florida, which was the Ringling Brothers' winter quarters. The other two mixed groups arrived at a similar time accompanied by Fritz Schultz, Joe Walch and Harry and May Kovar. Damoo wrote to the American historical magazine, Bandwagon, in 1967, listing all of Court’s animals that had been transported from war-torn Europe to Sarasota. They were:

Six Himalayan Black Bears
Six Polar Bears
Four Pumas
15 Lions
Six Tigers
16 Leopards
Six Black Panthers
Two Jaguars
Two Black Jaguars
One Snow Leopard
Two Spotted Great Dane Dogs

1940: At Ringling's winter quarters Damoo and Court trained five additional leopards as spares for the act. One of the leopards attacked Court, injuring him and also bit Damoo in the hand. The act opened with Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus at Madison Square Gardens. Alfred Court and Damoo were in the centre ring with the mixed group of panthers. During the dress rehearsal one of the leopards, Igloo, managed to get through the petition that separated him from the snow leopard, Dotchka, biting her in the neck and killing her. Damoo and Court tried to save her without success. The Igloo, when in the arena cage, attacked Court and clawed him in the face, resulting in Court nearly losing his right eye. Nevertheless, he carried on with the rehearsal! Igloo then climbed the cage and bit through the safety net above, escaping into the Madison Square Gardens auditorium. The leopard was eventually captured by the Court grooms.

1941-1942: Damoo presented the mixed group of small cats, flanked either side by Fritz Schultz and Joe Walsh with a mixed group of lions, tigers and bears, and Harry and May Kovar with a mixed group of lions, tigers, bears, black jaguars and Great Dane dogs.

1943: Alfred Court trained a new mixed group – his last. It consisted of nine tigers, five lions, two leopards, two pumas and a jaguar. However, the jaguar and pumas were omitted later on. The act was due to be presented by Damoo, but unfortunately one of the leopards took a dislike to him, so he was unable to present it. However, I do have pictures of him rehearsing the act in winter quarters. Damoo enlisted in the US army. The mixed small cat act was taken over by May Kovar who had quite a few accidents with this very dangerous group.

1944: May Kovar still presented this act, but in July 1944 Ringling’s suffered a terrible fire at Hertford, Connecticut and the circus had to return to its winter quarters.

1945: The leopard act was presented by Willy Storie, assisted by Vincent Dorr and Walter Flint. It also contained six girls who worked with the leopards. This act only worked for the 1945 season.

Winter 1945/46: Damoo returned from the army and took the original leopard act to a winter circus in Havana, Cuba. Storie, Dorr and Flint went with him. At that time the act consisted of the following animals:

Leopard "Sonia" Female
Leopard "Champion" Male
Leopard "Boopet" Female
Leopard "Taboo" Male
Leopard "Mincezu" Female
Leopard "Igloo" Male
Black Panther "Meckow" Female
Black Panther "Bangkok" Male
Black Jaguar "Zougou" Female
Black Jaguar "Negus" Male
Puma "Sudie" Female
Puma "Riton" Male

1946: Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus did not have a wild animal act for this season. They subcontracted the mixed small cat act with Damoo to Sparks Circus.

1947/48: Damoo, with his act, returned to Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey. The act worked in ring one. In ring two (centre ring) Roman Proske worked with his tigers and Ring three had Michael Konzelmann with Hagenbeck’s 14 polar bears.

1948: Damoo also doubled for Jonny Weissmuller in the feature film, “Jungle Jim”. For this filming he used his leopard Sonia for an attack sequence. The same footage was used again three years later in “Fury of the Congo”.

1949: Damoo was in ring one with the mixed small cats. Ring two (centre ring) featured Clausen bears and ring three had Mathies with Hagenbeck’s tigers.

1950/51: Alfred Court negotiated the sale of the act with Damoo to Circus Amar in France. It then consisted of five leopards, two black panthers, three pumas and two black jaguars.

1952: Damoo joined Circus Pinder in France. I am not sure if Amar sold the act to Pinder or what capacity Damoo worked at Amar. At the end of this year he returned to India.

Notes: It is worth reading the book “Circus Doctor” by J Y Henderson, as he mentions Damoo quite a lot. There is also a French book published about the transaction of the act when it was sold to Circus Amar. The above information was taken from various correspondence me (Jim Clubb) and friends of Alfred Court, including Willy Storie, and articles written by Alfred Court himself.

©Copyright J S Clubb 2009. Any reproduction or direct quotes from the above to be cleared through J S Clubb jclubb@amazinganimals.co.uk

Can History be Objective? A Conversation with Heather Vallance

“...conspiracy theorists are the ignorant and bored amusing themselves in areas they are least qualified to speak” – Dr Heather Vallance

We all need our teachers. I have always felt a great desire to honour and remember all of mine. I dedicated my first book “The Legend of Salt and Sauce” to my first teacher, the person who helped set me on the path of telling, reading and listening to stories. Years later I got bitten by the history bug, and became equally interested in investigating so-called “true” stories. During my time writing and researching “Salt and Sauce”, which is an historical investigation, I was put into contact with a brilliant historian from Canada who specialized in researching hard to find data and, in particular, primary source material. Dr Heather Vallance is a writer whose work is inspirational in the way it tries to quite literally bring history to life. In addition to recording and fighting to preserve historical data with a relentless passion, she is not frightened to use different mediums to convey her ideas. This has ranged from homemade documentaries to an actual historical novel, “The Tumbleweed Wars”. It is this combination of fact-sticking self-discipline and relentless imaginative energy that inspires me to regularly consult Heather, as a teacher, regarding most writing matters and particularly those concerning historical research.

In recent years I have taken the approach of the sceptic, after the fashion of the scientific sceptical community. It was a long “soul” searching decision that gradually progressed from a desire to establish facts and to filter out irrationality. It is now a philosophical approach that affects all parts of my life from my approach to teaching martial arts to the way I approach history. My book, “The Legend of Salt and Sauce” was all about filtering out myths and distortions of facts to establish the closest account of the truth I could find. However, I have noticed that the scientific community takes the lion’s share of sceptical analysis and debunking. They certainly have a lot to fight, but so do historians and, like science, history is also a discipline that is concerned with establishing hard facts. Just as there is pseudoscience baffling the ignorant, naïve and ill-informed there is pseudo-history fuelling paranoia and distorting our understanding of past events. It was this subject I broached with Heather and I learned a lot.
For me, the worst example of the pseudo-historian is a group of people we have ended up describing as the “conspiracy theorists”. Conspiracies, of course, do exist and have existed, but they rarely operate in the manner described by those who believe that the moon landings were faked, Princess Diana was assassinated, the Freemasons were behind the Jack the Ripper murders, the US government engineered the 9/11 tragedy or that anyone other than Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK. People lie and secrets are kept, but there has yet to be a truly plausible account given of how a conspiracy orchestrated any of these events, and often it is the approach taken by conspiracy theorists that goes against rational and sober historical investigation. They operate on confirmation biases, counting anything that supports their theory and disregarding anything that opposes it, often the point of nitpicking small inconsistencies that always turn up in anecdotal evidence. At best such approaches bring history into disrepute at worst they fuel paranoia, unfairly hurt the relatives and descendents of those involved in the period of history being reported and draw attention away from thorough historical research. The conspiracy theorist is to historians what the lowest of the sensationalist gutter press is to responsible journalism.

So I took my attitude towards pseudo-history to Heather. She had just completed writing the third of her trilogy of books on Anglo-American history between the two Boer Wars, “Golden Nemesis”. No stranger to “misinformation and disinformation” in history, Heather had done a lot of debunking with the life of US solider John Young Filmore Blake in her first book of the trilogy “An Unconventional Soldier”. Her email responses to me, as always, were frank and informative for which I am very grateful:

“There is no such thing as objectivity or truth but there is a space in all research where we can try to see things as they are and not as we want them to be. Strangely, skepticism can get in the way of reaching that space as much as the inability to face what lies there.
“What is essential in seeking lived experience is that we build checks and balances on ourselves and our own responses rather than do what is believed to be the correct thing and that is place checks and balances on external things. By monitoring ourselves scientifically we automatically apply principles of internal integrity onto our subject of study.

“History as a discipline alone is too steeped in 'tradition' and mainstream to explore lived experience using just its principles. That is why I encourage people to go into parallel philosophies such as phenomenology for inspiration”.

On the subject of conspiracy theories, Heather described to me the difference between a conspiracy, and the methods used by conspiracy theorists, and something she calls “networks of intention”, which have solid historical validity:

“If you can plot the interaction between people it is not a conspiracy. If researchers think in conspiracies they can never unearth the truth about things. It becomes an intellectual game rather than a plotted lived experience. This type of thinking is as much a fantasy as is the rigidly adhered to traditional history.

“There are reports and congressional documents which show that Cecil Rhodes was in talks with John Hay and other Americans about bringing down German commercial power by 1920. That is not a conspiracy that is business advantage. If you do not plan and project in business you fail.

“Now, if the conspiracy theorists get going then the truth of that experience is lost in silliness. I often say that conspiracy theorists are the ignorant and bored amusing themselves in areas they are least qualified to speak. Unfortunately, conspiracy theory has become a fad and is 'taught' in history classes. Which perhaps just goes to prove my point.

“Anyhow, conspiracy theory is a game not an actual research method and its proponents either have to go around in circles or grow out of it and become thinking analysts. And, as we both know, some people just don't grow up.

“I don't cater for that type of individual as a writer, researcher, and historian. From seeing your work and how you process you findings I doubt that you do and will. The aim in primary source research is to build patterns of interaction over time and across space and let them speak for themselves. Questioning and curious minds who can accept that life is not what we try to pretend it is will always be drawn to you and your work.

“From my part, and this is not related to your own comment at all, I am maddened by individuals who refuse to accept that networks of intention do exist and have existed and treat these as 'conspiracy' thereby undermining our understanding of human interaction over time.

“The case in point is in [Golden] Nemesis which is a chaos of interwoven relationships of self-interest that eventually explode and shatter lives and countries.

“The story which is chronologically logged step by step is a chess board of greed, power, and money enveloping not just the so-called terrorist organizations and idealists but respected historical figures such as Rhodes and Barnato. They used systems of aggression to underpin their own aims and ambitions. There is nothing conspiratorial about this. The same thing goes on today. Sometimes, you have to live the chaos to identify it, and often those who sit around debating conspiracy theory come from very closed and protected homes and societies where everything can appear cut and dry.

“Hence the power of perception in writing history and my statement about objectifying our own responses rather than the data”.

This returned us to our discussion regarding objectivity and the area of confirmation biases, which brought up a very interesting discussion regarding personal preferences, fact-finding and the right attitude a historian needs to take:

“I think researchers in any sphere of interest who say that they do not hope for a set of results when they begin their projects are liars. We all engage in projects because we have specific beliefs, hopes, and hypotheses. The test is to separate the impetus for a study from the data as it reveals itself during the study.

“For example, I do believe that John Young Filmore Blake was an honorable man and an idealist who adhered to a set of morals which made him different from many others in his day. There is a substantial body of data to support this belief and to challenge the characteristics assigned to him by those who did not wish him well either during or after his life time. I also know from the data that he was a man who saw no problem with using physical violence against his perceived enemies - as long as there were no civilian casualties, a self-delusion suffered by many activists because there are always civilian casualties in guerrilla warfare.

“I am also a pacifist who believes that war is never an answer to anything if we as a species wish to remain civilized and/or to continue reaching our potential as a species. I had to temporarily overcome my aversion to war and violence in order to research and record a narrative largely about acts of violence and amoral behaviour which eventually implode on the perpetrators and bystanders alike.

“If as a researcher you want to reach into a muddle of lived experience through primary sources or any other means then you have to learn how to disassociate yourself and your personal beliefs from those of the actors of the time and their narrative. But you also have to saturate yourself in their world to understand something of what they saw and experienced.

“I cannot pass judgment on men like Blake because I have never experienced the horror of their lives and the lives of their families, nor should I become so empathetic that I endorse actions that do not adhere to the Geneva Convention. For instance, a group of fighters who joined Blake in Africa during the Anglo Boer War did so wearing the Red Cross, an inexcusable misuse of a neutral symbol. However, had they not done so they would not have reached the battle lines. There is no way an historian can weigh the two sides of the coin morally, but practically, as a method of attainment of a goal at the time these men lived and planned their engagement in the war, there can be no judgment passed on the plan they used to attain that goal.

“Cecil John Rhodes, equally, has been portrayed as a higher being or at worst a flawed god, even by historians I admire. In truth, he was an amoral megalomaniac who cast aside lives as Nancy Hammond said, like trees shed leaves. I respect Rhodes in many ways, but I think that we also need to understand that the underlying narrative of men like Rhodes is that even treason has a place in the world, and all things are expendable. Rhodes became the role model for many front runners of the early 20th century, and that to me is scary.

“We talk about blood diamonds today without any association of the meaning to our own present and past.

“I know I am about to bring down the wrath of the gods for this, - but the Rhodes scholarship funds are comprised of the interest garnered off the sale of blood diamonds in the past. That blood did not belong exclusively to traditional African men and women. The original 'mineral' blood was shed by Irish, American, Native American, South American, European, and even English men, women and children. In essence, what this means is that many students have gained knowledge off the backs and blood of men and women who are their own ancestors.
“Heather the person sees this as a form of unconscious cannibalism. Heather the historian sees it as a fact to be recorded, as a facet of what made the Anglo American 20th century at once both good and bad, strong and weak. Admirable and frightening”.

Her closing remarks in connection with her latest work, “Golden Nemesis”, are a reflection of the type of historian I aspire to be. Like “The Legend of Salt and Sauce” Heather’s book is not intended to be an absolute, but rather a platform for future historical researchers. I am happy to be in contact with more and more people who are secure enough in themselves and passionate enough in the interests of furthering history that they can accept their work is never a closed book:

“What I am trying to do with Nemesis is not formulate a definitive narrative but show through a progression of interaction composed of the relics of the lived experience that we have limited the story to what we want to remember instead of exploring all its angles and themes. It is my hope that others can add to the narrative or tweak bits that are not up to speed, using additional primary sources which I do not have access to. I think of it in terms of a 3D panorama which grows as each new, individual and independent photo is added”.

Links: http://heathervallance.blogspot.com http://penandspindle.blogspot.com

Salt and Sauce Makes Elephant Book of the Month!

I am very proud to announce that my first book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" has made book of the month on "Elephant News" http://www.elephant-news.com/ and will also be featured on the world's biggest elephant database http://www.elephant.se/

The database includes details on both Salt and Sauce now. Salt's entry includes an excerpt from Dennis Fossett's orbiturary detailed Salt's death that was not featured in my book and I reproduce here for your interest:

"In October 1952, Salt, by now 85, lay down in her stable at Canterbury for the last time. She had fallen into a lake near the circus and, despite being hoisted out by crane, never recovered, though she was swaddled in blankets and hot water bottles and given a bottle of rum to drink each day. Hundreds of well-wishers brought gifts of pears, sugar and chocolate for her, but to no avail. Salt died from a chill, after 70 years in the circus."

It is interesting as another example of the inaccuracies found in the recording of the history of these two elephants - hence the "Legend" part in my book's title. Salt and Sauce were regularly promoted on Ringland's Circus (the circus owned by Dennis Fossett and formerly by his father, Tom) as being very old. One advert even has them around 90, so the exageration of the age is actually quite mild by comparison. The truth is Salt must have been in no more than in her early 50s when she died, as she and Sauce were clearly only babies when they first arrived in the UK in 1902 having been bought by George Lockhart Snr.

"The Legend of Salt and Sauce" Book of the Month! http://www.elephant-news.com/index.php?type=book

Interview on BBC Radio Norfolk on Sunday 1st Feb

BBC Radio Norfolk will be conducting an interview with me around 15:15/15:30 on Sunday 1 February. I will be interviewed by Maggie Secker on her "The Brew" programme to discuss my first book, "The Legend of Salt and Sauce". Salt and Sauce, of course, appeared in Yarmouth, which is where the Norfolk connection comes in. Please be sure to log on or, if you can get the reception, tune in to listen the programme. All support and feedback is most welcome http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/

History on History: Essential for all Historians

"In Our Time" is an excellent regular radio programme and podcast that deals with big ideas in history. On 23/01/2009 the programme centred on a topic I think should be of interest to any historian: the history of history. Historians are often our sources. Their approach and methods can shape the way we study history or look at the past. Interestingly the origins of the word history are closely linked to the word "inquiry".

Conspiracy theorists and pseudohistorians often like to cite the adage "history is written by the winners" when they have difficulty shifting the overwhelming evidence set against their extraordinary claims. Actually the excellent sceptical resource website Snopes has a forum discussion on the origins of this exact phrase: http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=101;t=000374;p=0 However, this is not good enough. History is about researching and establishing facts. The discussion looks at how the writing of history has evolved and, looking at the broader picture, how we can establish certain historical facts. Anecdotal evidence is given its place. For example Herodotus and Pliny were quick to point out when they didn't know whether a certain historical story was real, but also understood that it was important to include nevertheless to understand the thinking of the people who did believe it. This is different from some historians who followed them, sometimes competitively and contemptuously, who completley disregarded such stories and, worse still, those who reported such stories as facts (see the conspiracy theorists, pseudohistorians and pulp non-fiction writers).

When I wrote "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" I was very aware of the amount of myth surrounding these two famous historical circus elephants, hence the title. For me, it was important to not only include inaccurate reports of certain events and apocryphal stories in order to debunk them, but to show how imagines were fired up and folklore was created. We need to understand biases of certain historians - for example, "In Our Time" discusses the huge influence of post-Constantine Christian historians - in order to see what shaped the mentality of those who read their work. I found that my subject, Salt and Sauce the elephants, had been so surrounded by infamy thanks in part to the stories about their stampedes being reported on the radio decades after they had happened that the keepers at Dudley Zoo became very concerned about handling them. Subsequently they weren't worked for a year before Ivor Rosaire took them on for "Long" Tom Fossett on his circus. In his interview Ivor told me that there was a lot of fearful apprehension surrounding his training them at the time when Fossett bought them off Dudley Zoo.

Here is the link for "In Our Time" http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime.shtml Don't forget to check their useful research page.

Salt and Sauce: Who do you think you are?

There is a UK television series I sometimes watch, "Who Do You Think You Are?" The premise is that a celebrity traces their roots back through history to discover more about their ancestory. Different episodes have encovered numerous revelations that have often moved the individual to greatly appreciate the hardships their grandparents, great grandparents and so on went through. It is programmes such as this that show us just how important the study of history really is. We should never be shackled by our past or get caught up in genetic determinism, but respecting our ancestors and understanding how our genes finally arrived where they are provides us with more motivation and to value the life we life today. These thoughts came to me when I was pondering my strong views on the importance of the past, the present and the future. They will probably end up in an article in the near future, but for now they surface to help me reply to two wonderful emails I received from two more people my book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" has touched.

Those of you who read this blog in November 2008 will recall the fact that members of the Karim family independently contacted me regarding "The Legend of Salt and Sauce". Their thanks and some of their attendance at the launch of my book's second edition were a wonderful source of inspiration for me. Their family in the UK could trace a major turning point to the incident when Salt the elephant became stuck in Vauxhall Lake, Canterbury, and her subsequent death one week later. The episode resulted in Prince Abdul Karim, his wife and their seven children being made homeless and eventually settling in Canterbury thanks to the kindness of the residents. Now I have had emails from a close relative of Sauce's final keeper, Les "Steve" Stephens, and also a descendent of Harry Lockhart, brother of George Lockhart, the trainer who was killed by Sauce.

It is my hope that the information in my book can help and also that both individuals can use it to further their own researches and hopefully return with more data - be they corrections or additions. This sort of investigation keeps history living and justifies the reason for writing historical books. As I have said before, there are no absolutes. History is about sourcing and establishing facts in order that we can better paint a truthful picture of our pasts. I look forward to seeing how it all progresses and hopefully "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" will touch more people.

NOTE: The above picture depicts Sam and Harry Lockhart working on Ringlings circus in the USA. One brother apparently presented the "a" group of elephants and the other the "b" group.

Golden Nemesis

Heather Vallance unleashes the culmination of her historical research on John Y. F. Blake and the Boer wars:

"The Anglo-American era of the 20th century was underpinned by guerrilla movements with surprising benefactors like Cecil John Rhodes and Barney Barnato, the two megaliths of British imperial commerce in Africa. In their world there was not enough room for Empire and self.
In death Barnato was vilified and dismissed. Rhodes was sanctified and elevated. Both were forgiven the treason which would have made them kings.
Golden Nemesis tracks the alliances of Rhodes and Barnato as they escalate into the chaos which lays the ground work for the 20th century and the bond between Britain and America..."
http://web.me.com/penandspindle/Site/Golden_Nemesis.html

For further details see updates on http://penandspindle.blogspot.com

2008: My Year in Review

I look back on a very exciting and educational year for me where I became a published author, an international seminar coach and a father!

Click on the following link for the full review:

http://www.clubbchimera.com/?p=476

Live Q & A session with Jamie Clubb on 12th December

I have been very kindly invited to answer questions on the Bohemian Cafe forum. The Bohemian Cafe is an excellent website and message board dedicated to creating an inspirational and motivational place for the creative. Inspired by the Bohemian cafes in the early 20th century, where artists, writers and other artistic types would meet up to discuss ideas, best-selling author, playwright, screenplay writer and martial arts coach, Geoff Thompson created the online place to nurture new talent in a positive environment. I recommend that everyone who visits this blog register as a member.

I feel honoured to be asked to answer questions at the Cafe and I would be very grateful of any support you can offer on 12th by asking questions. My hope is that I get tackle a broad range of topics rather than just areas only certain people know me in. So, whether it is history, circus, martial arts, self defence, children's self protection, my time in Extreme World Warfare pro wrestling, scepticism, individualism or something more personal or unusual please feel free to ask away!

http://www.bohemiancafe.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=8

Salt and Sauce: Wolverhampton's Elephants or Canterbury's Elephants?

On 13th November 2008 my father and officially launched the second edition of my book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce". The original book took over six years to complete and the second edition, as is the nature of historical works, is a heavily revised version with extra material, updates, additional photographs, an index and more. Wolverhampton historian and author Ned Williams very kindly organized our launch at the Light House Cinema in Wolverhampton for 13th November.

The event began with ten minutes very rare footage of Chipperfield's circus elephants on cinefilm and an excerpt from one of their Christmas shows. This was to show the audience who had attended what sort of elephant acts used to be commonplace in the UK. The footage began in the early 1950s, which was the final decade of Salt and Sauce's career.

I then launched staight into a reading of my book's tongue-in-cheek prologue. This an intentially dramatic re-telling of the tragic story of Walthamstow Goodsyard, where Sauce crushed George Lockhart Snr to death, an event that began the official legend and myth-making of these two elephants' lives.

After this my father, my main researcher and historian, gave first part of his PowerPoint talk displaying archive photos taken from the elephants' career. These pictures included photos that cannot be seen in any of the editions of the book. He brought the story up the time when famous Wolverhampton resident and circus showman, John "Broncho Bill" Swallow, purchased our book's two heroines.

This lead into my next reading, which was the entire chapter "Salt and Sauce: The Golden Age". This particular part of the elephants' lives was when they toured with John Swallow's circus in the 1920s. The chapter details how the elephants regularly walked the streets of Wolverhampton and I was delighted to hear from residents who attended the launch that the stories of these elephant walks had reached them via their parents. The stories seemed incredible and the residents were surprised, through reading my book, to discover that their parents were actually telling the truth!

My father moved onto his second PowerPoint piece, displaying photos between Salt and Sauce's time with John Swallow through their presentation by Ivor Rosaire and Emily Paulo, their donation to Dudley Zoo and subsequent purchase by Fossett's Ringland's Circus in the 1950s. This was where Salt attracted local and eventually nationwide publicity when she became stuck in Canterbury's Vauxhall lake and after her rescue died after a week despite the best efforts of the circus and the local vet.

This dramatic episode is recored in the chapter "Canterbury 1952 - Flowers for Salt", which I read an abridged version. I included this particular chapter for the benefit of the Karim family, the children of Prince Abdul Karim, the elephant's main keeper and presenter during their time at Ringland's Circus. This particular incident was a dramatic turning point in the lives of many. Not only did Salt receive over a hundred wreathes from the residents of Canterbury, but the subsequent sacking of Abdul Karim led to his family becoming permanent residents of Canterbury, where many of them still live to this day.

It was wonderful to meet this family who I had written about and heart-warming to hear how much they appreciated my father and my efforts to bring this very important chapter in their family back to life. I was told that although residents of Wolverhampton claimed Salt and Sauce as their elephants, the people of Canterbury were equally possessive!

After my final reading, my father concluded the story with photographs that took the story of Sauce up until her far less dramatic death at Butlin's holiday camp in Skegness. The evening was concluded with a question and answer section, and then we continued signing books and listening to fascinating recollections in the cinema's delightful bar.

The Light House is the best venue I have used for a launch. It is a wonderfully intimate venue, where a selection of live performances, classic, cult and mainstream cinema are shown. A perfect place to discuss a different age of entertainment that is almost forgotten.

Circus Memories - Swansea

One the most wonderful things about having the Salt and Sauce story published is all the people it has touched and the memories it helps revive. As the book begins to circulate I hear more and more anecdotes that further enrich the history I have recorded. However, sometimes it brings up memories that are not directly related to Salt and Sauce, but still worth sharing. The following is one from Robert Bradshaw, who recently purchased a copy of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" and has very kindly allowed me to reproduce it here:

Growing up in Swansea in the fifties and sixties I used to look forward to the visit of the circus to the Recreation Ground . All the big touring circuses visited - Smarts , Chipperfields , Bertram Mills and others .

I have a vague memory of seeing a large group of the Smarts circus elephants , some very small , being walked through town from the station , trunk to tail . I also remember a large group of polar bears with Chipperfields - they always seemed to have the biggest menagerie . My first snow leopards I think were with Fossetts along with lots of other cats .

I also remember a waggon cage containing leopards being drawn into the ring by I think highland cattle and a coloured lady working the leopards in the cage . The beach was across the road from the Rec. and horses and elephants would be exercised on the sands .

In Memory of Salt and Sauce: Wolverhampton's Elephants

From Wolverhampton's "Spaghetti Gazette":

Thurs 13 Nov, 6.30pm The Legend of Salt & Sauce: Wolverhampton's Elephants
The Black Country Society and the Wolverhampton History & Heritage Society jointly present an evening devoted to the memory of Salt and Sauce -Wolverhampton's two circus elephants who lived in a yard in Gorsebrook Road from 1920 until the Second World War. Their owner was John Swallow, the proprietor of Broncho Bill's Circus and Wild West Show. Jamie Clubb and Jim Clubb, who have written a book on Salt and Sauce, will give an illustrated presentation.The event will be chaired by Ned Williams, the President of the Black Country Society, and after the presentation the Clubbs will be selling copies of their new book. Cost: £1.
http://www.light-house.co.uk/whats_on_article.php?id=119

Last of an Era

The Hall-by-the-Sea was an establishment founded by "Lord" George Sanger, a figure with strong connections to my book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" (now in its second edition). Sanger was one of the most famous circus proprietors of his day and his Hall-by-the-Sea establishment in Margate is connected with one of Salt and Sauce's owners, the mysterious Herbert "Captain Joe" Taylor.

The Hall-by-the-Sea was replaced in the early part of the 20th century by Dremland, but there are still some small remains of the zoo that was contained within the hall. Recently a preservation order has been placed on the three remaining cages, which are the last remaining pieces of the zoo part of the Hall-by-the-Sea and possibly the last remaining examples of Victorian zoo cages (at least from that particular period of the late 19th century). Support is still being gathered in favour of preserving the cages and the case being made that they are of historical importance.

http://www.spaghettigazetti.com/2008/10/events-at-lighthouse-wolverhampton.html

Second Edition of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" is now available

I am pleased to announce that the second edition of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" is now on sale. As previously mentioned in the "No Absolutes" article, this is a completely updated edition of the book that was first published in June 2008. The new edition has extensively revised text on nearly every page, additional historical information, corrections, additional colour photographs and more.

Copies are available through all good booksellers, my publisher Aardvark Publications and from me. If you want your copy signed and dated, please let me know on jamie@amazinganimals.co.uk

Wolverhampton elephant recollections 2

The articles in the Wolverhampton Express and Star continue to arouse old fond memories of Salt and Sauce the elephants when they were regular residents there in the 1920s-40s. Recently I was sent the following recollection from Harry Jones who has kindly allowed me to reproduce it for this blog:

"During the second world war my father was in the fire service [I don't know whether he was in the AFS or the NFS at the time], but I can remember him saying to me " Can you guess what I rode my bike into last night ". He used to cycle along Gorsebrook road on his way from Cannock road , where we lived, to the fire station on Newhampton road. Apparently it must have been one of the occasions that the elephants got free and he rode into one of them, fetching him off his bike. During the blackout the front lamp of a cycle had a cowl on it that deflected the light downwards , only illuminating the front wheel. The poor elephant didn't stand a chance !!!

Prior to living on Cannock road I lived in Lloyd Street, off Newhampton road, with the "Summer house" pub on the corner.
The trainer of salt and sauce used to walk the elephants round the streets, then pop into the pub for a drink, leaving the elephants outside, where a group of us children would feed them stale bread. Fathers of the children in the street would send them to collect what the elephants had deposited on the road, And on one occasion Tonys' truck had that much muck on, the wheels collapsed.

I decided to write this,after reading the article in the Express and star about salt and sauce, I thought you might be interested.

Harry Jones"

Report on Kenilworth Book Signing

On 13th September 2008 I attended a book signing at Kenilworth library. The event was covered by the Kenilworth Weekly News. Please see a scan of the article below. Unfortunately the interview was conducted over the telephone, which meant some of the more confusing details regarding my book got a little muddled. Matters often get confused when I am promoting the book in Warwickshire due to the fact that Sam Lockhart, the brother of Salt and Sauce's most famous trainer, was a celebrity in Leamington Spa with his elephants.

Toffees in a tin - Salt and Sauce return to the Express and Star

The Wolverhampton Express and Star newspaper was a major source for my research on the elephants Salt and Sauce when they were owned by John "Broncho Bill" Swallow. Swallow had a very close relationship with his local paper and regularly sent reports back to it when he was touring with his own circus and later when he toured on other circuses with Salt and Sauce the elephants. His son, John D. Swallow - the third member of the family we know of who bore the name John - became the paper's editor. Historian Ned Williams wrote a lot on the circuses and faires that visited Wolverhampton and I am grateful for his research on the Swallows and Salt and Sauce. He will be promoting a special signing and talk I will be giving at a Wolverhampton cinema on 13th November. He recently had an article published on my book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" in the Wolverhampton Express and Star, and below is a scan of Christin Groscutt's article written in response. The 78 Wolverhampton local tells of her fond memories of Salt and Sauce who she gave toffees and claimed as her "pets" at school.

New Edition of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce"

This post is something of a sequel to one I wrote called "No Absolutes". My first book, "The Legend of Salt and Sauce", has been extensively revised since its first publication. This is very exciting news for me. In the spirit of historical writing the book was never intended to be the final word on Salt and Sauce the elephants, and there incredible lives. It was, after all, only the first time their entire story was put together and first serious attempt was made to separate the fact from the fiction. My intentions have always been to inspire others to do further research, fill in gaps with solid evidence and, above all else, correct my errors. Some historians and writers have done just that and were good enough to send me their findings and annotations. I have gratefully received them and used them to improve my book.

The new version of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" is now a virtual second edition that should include extensive revisions of the text thanks to Geoff Stevens, extra information from Mark Twitchett and Ned Williams - including a letter from the deathbed of John "Broncho Bill" Swallow's grandson who was able to read the book shortly before he sadly passed away, an index, a completely rewritten appendix on Sam Lockhart - thanks to Robin Stott and additional colour pictures.

Of course, this will mean that the first print run of the book will be more valuable now, so if you haven't purchased a copy now I would advise you do so soon. We have very limited stocks!

New Signing Date

Please note that the signing of "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" at Kenilworth Library has now been changed to Saturday 13th September 2008.