Switzerland Journal November 26th 1936

Thurs: Nov 26th. Le Tartuff*. A play written by Molier. It is a comedy about a family, the father of which is very fond of a man called Tartuff who is a hypocrite. Orgon, the father, offers Tartuff his daughter for marriage but the daughter is in love & wishes to marry another man. Tartuff falls in love with Orgon’s wife, Elmire, & makes love to her. Elmire tells this to Orgon & he does not believe it, so she makes him hide under a table while she has an interview with Tartuff who makes love to her again & says [sais?] wrong things about Orgon. Orgon turns against Tartuff after that & turns him from his house but Tartuff recalled the promise of Orgon to him, that all his house & money were for him.
In the end Tartuff is arrested & taken to prison.

*Correct spelling is Tartuffe.

Le Faiseur. A play by Balzac_Comedy. It was very funny but didn’t have much story to it. There was a very big cast.

Switzerland journal November 26th

Switzerland Journal November 19th 1936

Thurs: Nov. 19. Neuchâtel. A town at the head of a lake and county* of that name. It is a very old town with a beautiful castle and catherderal[sic]. There are remains of an old Romain[sic] wall there.

Morat.** Murten is a little town on the route Geneva – Neuchâtel. It is an old Romain[sic] town – half French and half German. There is a lovely old Gateway & church which were built by the Romains [sic].
This part of Switzerland is very beautiful. It is in the mountains – Jura & the little villages are very picturesque. Oxen are employed here instead of horses. There are lots of old Romain remains all over these counties – Benn, Vand, Friburg and Neuchatel. A few of the little towns are renowned for a battle.

*The member states of the Swiss confederation are called Cantons. Neuchâtel is one of the six French speaking cantons of Switzerland.

**Morat is the Swiss name for Murten. Murten is a Medieval town. It’s unclear why Peggy has added in an ‘i’ to the spelling of Roman.

Switzerland journal November 19th 1936
Switzerland journal page

Diary Back Pages

Back on December 26th 2019 I posted photos of the diary pages that preceded the entries. They were filled with lots of useful information – far more than I was ever expected to know at school! Now the year is over I’ll post the pages from the back of the diary, some of which Peggy filled in, but much of it she didn’t.

First up are the all important Pocket Money pages! As you can see, she made use of the first of these tables in May 1936. She split the page into “Daddies money” and “My money”. It appears that she spent her initial budget on essential items and then used her allocated ‘pocket money’ on frivolities and personal purchases.

‘Daddie’s Money’ balance is 10 shillings (worth around £35 in today’s money). She spent 1/7 (one shilling and seven pence) on S.T’s, which is Peggy’s code for sanitary towels. She kept back 5/3 for pocket money and then spent 3/11 1/2 on stockings* and 3d (pence) on shoes – possibly a repair rather than a new pair, since 3d equates to just over £1 in today’s currency.

‘My Money’ was spent on a frog (6d), sweets (4d), a book (6/2) and a present (2d)
Peggy also owed Mummie 6/9.

*Stockings were made of silk until nylon was invented in 1938.

Switzerland journal November 12th 1936

Thurs: Nov 12th. Colognie.*
A pretty little village on the hills opposite la Mayolaine**. Lord Byron stayed there. We saw the house he stayed in _ where he wrote “Childe Harold” and “The Prisoner of Chillon”.
There is a street named after him and also a stone laid for him.
The village is a very picturesque little place with stone walls covered with moss & little rock plants. It has the best view over Geneva from anywhere else around.

*Correct spelling is Cologny.
**I can’t find anywhere nearby that looks anything like ‘La Mayolaine’. Suggestions are welcome!

Switzerland journal November 12th 1936

Post-diary

Peggy’s 1936 diary has now finished. There is one last entry on the final page, saying ‘Coronation of George VI May 12th 1937’ (Edward VIII has been scrawled out) – which is covered by lines crossing out the days in January – presumably because she started a new Diary for 1937. Peggy made various notes in the back sections of the book, which I will share over the coming days. Unfortunately we didn’t find any other diaries among Peggy’s possessions after she died in 2016, so I don’t have the next one to continue with. There are more entries in her ‘Switzerland’ journal, which I will post (I got a bit behind with them, but I will catch up, and they continue sporadically until April 1937), and there are several sketches she made, including some of David (of course!) and the school in Geneva.

Last page of entries