Editor Des ‘meets’ Dr Johnson

A DAY WITH DR JOHNSON by EDITOR DES

Well I wrote this story a long time ago, but it’s Dr Johnson’s birthday tomorrow, so I’m sharing it with you again, I’m sorry the photos are so crappy, but that’s not my fault!

Oh dear… where to start?!

Well, Pauline and Doctor Bob took me to London the other day to enhance my editorial knowledge and  skills. We walked along the river  from the Tower to Fleet Street, where all the big newspapers used to be published.  I noticed Pauline was a bit distracted…worrying that she may have forgotten to include important things in a book she’s written called All Along the River! Too late now, it’s gone to press…mwah ha ha!

I had my photo taken at Dr Samuel Johnson’s statue…he wrote a famous dictionary and is  one of Pauline’s  great heroes. She has a little bust of him on her desk. 

Dr Johnson in bronze.

It’s hard to spot me, but I’m a little blur at his feet.

MOI – WITH DR SAM

Then we stopped to inspect the sculpture of Samuel’s equally famous cat, Hodge,  who was very fond of oysters (yuk!) He’s sitting on the dictionary with an empty oyster shell.

We visited his old house (Sam’s, not Hodge’s although they lived together). I was allowed to sit on his special chair. Pauline and Dr Bob couldn’t as they weighed far too much.

ON THE SPEC IAL CHAIR

Oh yes, and you get a pound off the entry fee to the house  if you are very  old…no names no pack drill! I got in free because we pretended  I was under 12 (I’m  really  13 and one  month).

We saw a library with a couple of the great man’s own books  and way up in the attic was the  huge DICTIONARY!!  I looked up the word LOO because we had been searching for one all morning. It was there, but  the word didn’t actually mean toilet back then. I think  Dr Johnson called it a privy. 

For some reason  Pauline was very taken by the word ‘mall’, which originally meant a sort of hammer. So a  mall was  an alley where people used to hit a ball with a mall, in a game  a bit like croquet. Then it just came to mean a walkway.

In the 1950s a mall was a closed off street, but then it morphed into the monstrosities we have today I don’t like them at all, because I tend to get lost.

LOOKING UP THE WORD ‘LOO’.

1805 EDITION OF  DR JOHNSON’S  DICTIONARY

Dr Bob was thinking about lunch by this time  so we went to one of Dr Johnson’s favourite inns…Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, for beer and pies.  Before we went in  I was given a lesson about the kings and queens of England, as lots of them were written on the wall outside …all the ones who have reigned since the inn was rebuilt in 1667  (an earlier building burnt down in the Great Fire Of London). I only knew about Elizabeth II. It didn’t have anything to do with editing so I was a bit bored to tell you the truth!

BORING OLD HISTORY LESSON

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You can see Dr Johnson’s favourite chair inside the pub, but even I wasn’t allowed to sit on this one. I wanted a lark pie, which Pauline  had told me about, but  it turns out they don’t have them anymore.  I didn’t bother having anything after that  because  I was so disappointed.   Also, beef ones are a bit suspect these days, what with mad cows.

PIE TIME FOR PAULINE

Now I have to say that I learned a lot from Dr Johnston, and my editing skills really improved!  Soon afterwards I was in Bloomsbury and I spotted a mistake on a huge sign. Can you see it? I wrote to the Lord Mayor, but when I went back to London  a few years later he still  hadn’t fixed it! 

Well the next day something truly terrible happened to me. I am still far  too upset to write about it, but I will soon. I may be using some very rude words about my so called guardians, Pauline and Dr Bob….words I’m not even sure Dr Johnson had in his dictionary. Let me just say that I’m lucky to be here!!

FOR DETAILS ON VISITING DR JOHNSON’S HOUSE, CLICK HERE.

PS…if you would like to leave me a message, write one in the box below. But as I always tell you,  do the little sum before you press  SUBMIT, otherwise your message will vanish, and that would be such a shame.