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Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=8061
Author:  Lyanne [ Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
(Direct quotes from EBD in italics, thanks to Alison H for the second quiote)

Her mother had died when she was five. After her death, Mr Cochrane had sent the girl to his mother’s and led a bachelor life for the next five years. On Grizel’s tenth birthday he had married again, most unaccountably, without informing his second wife of the fact that he had a daughter.

Of course, rather than ask why Mr Cochrane got married on Grizel’s tenth birthday (and without inviting his mother or daughter), one should ask why he waited so long after his first wife’s death to remarry. And how he managed to become close enough to the second Mrs Cochrane to ask her to marry him without telling her that he had a mother or daughter back in Cornwall.

The presence of a gravestone in the tiny ‘Foreigners’ corner of the Swiss Reformed Churchyard in Schaffhausen may begin to explain these answers. It reads ‘Maude Griselda Cochrane, wife and mother, 1881 to 1920.’ A simple calculation shows that Grizel Cochrane was 10 in 1920, as she was fourteen and a half in 1925 when she left Taverton with Miss Bettany, Josephine Bettany and Mademoiselle La Pattre. So, was this an error on the behalf of the conscientious Swiss tombstone engravers? Or an error by the young Grizel, forgetting in her grief how old she was when her mother died? Yet, Grizel could just remember her as a fragile, complaining being who lay on a couch all day, and said, "Hush!" in fretful tones whenever her little daughter ventured to raise her voice. Surely the ten year old Grizel would have had more memories of even the sickliest of mothers?

Or, is there a deeper mystery to be uncovered?
Author:  janetbrown23 [ Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Most intriguing start, thank you Lyanne.
Author:  cal562301 [ Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Very interesting. Looking forward to more. Thanks Lyanne.
Author:  Alison H [ Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Interesting start!
Author:  Abi [ Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Ooh, looks interesting - can't wait to see what the story is.
Author:  Elle [ Sun Jun 27, 2010 8:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
To show a total lack of originality this looks very interesting!
Author:  Smile :) [ Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Would llike to be different and say at looks like a boring start (just to show some originality y'know) but that wouldn't be true, looks highly interesting and I can't wait to see where it's going. Thanks Lyanne.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Looks very interesting. Can't wait to see more
Author:  Lyanne [ Mon Jun 28, 2010 6:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Thank you all!

Henry Cochrane cannot be entirely blamed for his mother’s misconception: when he brought the five year old Grizel to his mother’s house and told the elder Mrs Cochrane and Grizel that the old lady was now to care for Grizel as Maude had gone away, his mother had believed that ‘gone away’ was his use of a common euphemism for died rather than telling the child that her mother had died. Besides, in her pleasure at seeing the child she had hardly seen while Mrs and Mr Cochrane had lived in London, despite her frequent offers to have Grizel to stay with her to avoid the London air, Mrs Cochrane was too busy making her small grandchild’s acquaintance to ask many questions of Mr Cochrane. The elder Mrs Cochrane was a healthy woman and her sorrow when Grizel asked Grannie if she had to be quiet while Grannie rested on the couch after breakfast, lunch and tea, left her in no mind to be encouraging the child to be asking where her mother was. Instead they enjoyed walking in the charming countryside round Taverton. Mrs Cochrane’s friends soon delighted in seeing the roses bloom in the pretty child’s cheeks, and though none of the old ladies encouraged Grizel to feel sorry for herself, she quickly became a general pet with them.
Author:  Alison H [ Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
That would make a lot of sense. EBD's own family told people that they'd "lost" EBD's dad, to make it sound as if he'd died when in actual fact he'd just left them.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
It seems a shame though, that Grizel's Father didn't say the truth, but I guess in those days, people didn't
Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Mon Jun 28, 2010 9:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Ooh, what a mystery! Thanks, I can't wait to see where this goes.
Author:  Abi [ Mon Jun 28, 2010 11:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
That does make sense, but it's rather sad.

Thanks Lyanne!
Author:  Lyanne [ Tue Jun 29, 2010 6:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
I think most of Grizel's life is melancholy.

Mr Cochrane, meanwhile, had gone back to London, given notice on the elegant Richmond townhouse and moved into a stylish apartment, in Chelsea. He did not socialise with his neighbours, who took little notice of Mr Cochrane and his glamorous wife Ursula, beyond wondering why the apparently fit man was in London and not at the front. His neighbours, of course, were not to know that the real Mrs Cochrane was far from London.

Maude Cochrane was in Switzerland, in the little town of Schaffhausen.
Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Tue Jun 29, 2010 7:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Aaah, where did the rest of the update go?!?
Author:  Alison H [ Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Well, going to see her mother'd make more sense than haring off to see some waterfalls, however spectacular.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Poor Grizel. I wonder how she found out her Mother was alive still
Author:  mohini [ Tue Jun 29, 2010 11:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
This makes sense. Poor Grizel. Hope she meets her mother.
Author:  Abi [ Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
:shock: I wonder how Grizel found all this out - it must have come as a bit of a shock when she did.

Thanks Lyanne!
Author:  Miss Di [ Wed Jun 30, 2010 2:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Very clever Lyanne. Looking forward to more.
Author:  Smile :) [ Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
So why wasn't Mr Cochrane at the front then?

Thanks Lyanne.
Author:  La Petite Em [ Sat Jul 03, 2010 5:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
This is very clever Lyanne. So many questions answered, yet still so more answers to come! Poor Grizel, I agree that she had a sad life on the whole.
Author:  Mona [ Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Looking forward to seeing some of these mysteries explained. :D Thanks Lyanne!
Author:  ivohenry [ Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Another looking forward to more of this. So if her mother died when she was ten rather than five, how did she find out? And how did she know the grave was in Scaffhausen? And of course why was Mrs C there?? Lots of questions that need answers please!!!
Author:  Lyanne [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen
Sorry for my lack of posting, I got stuck when I realised Mr C wasn't at the Front but I didn't know why at first... :oops:

Interestingly enough, the reason Mr Cochrane was not at the Front goes some way to explain his later attitude to Grizel’s preferred career choice. While a small boy at prep school, the 6 year old Cochrane had been forced to play rugby with much older boys by an ill-trained and uncaring Sports master – the resulting broken leg was not acknowledged or treated and by the time young Henry went home for the holidays, the damage was done – he would be lame for the rest of his life. This left Henry Cochrane with a life-long horror of Sports and PE teachers.

The next five years went peacefully enough for the Cochranes old and young, despite the Great War and Spanish Influenza.

Old Mrs Cochrane sent young Grizel to a Kindergarten in the next street where she and the other little girls worked happily outside in all weathers, enjoying dancing to the music their pretty teacher played for them, digging in the kitchen garden to grow their own fruit and vegetables, building towering structures that crashed to the ground with cries of glee from the children, climbing trees, making dens, using decorators’ brushes to paint the walls of the Kindergarten in jolly colours that washed off in the next rainfall, making up stories together for the teacher to scribe and record.

All this was excellent preparation for Grizel to be ready for school when she was eight, and though she now had to sit at a desk to read, write and do arithmetic, her healthy body had good gross motor and fine motor skills. Her favourite lessons were games and drill, and Grannie was very proud when Grizel was picked for the Junior netball team. Grizel asked Grannie if she could have piano lessons so she could play for her many friends to dance to, and Grannie readily agreed. Miss Pettigrew was a pleasant music teacher and Grizel enjoyed her lessons all the more when Miss Pettigrew explained that she believed in children learning by playing music, and only 5 minutes of scales a day.
“I would like Grizel to begin by practicing for up to half an hour a day, Mrs Cochrane, but no more than 5 minutes of scales. The book I start my beginners on has plenty of jolly little tunes and rhymes, that give structured learning but give the little ones a real sense of achievement. There is plenty of time for scales when they are older and can understand that they need to be able to automatically know where each note is. I saw too many of my friends give up as all they seemed to be doing was playing those endless scales – and after all, who wants to hear those!”
Mrs Cochrane, remembering the endless hours of scales she had herself suffered as a young child, agreed and had the piano moved from the drawing room into the sunshiny morning room where she and Grizel spent most of their time. She was quickly rewarded by seeing the progress Grizel made, and by the time Grizel was almost ten, Mrs Cochrane and Miss Pettigrew were amused to hear Grizel begging Miss Pettigrew to let her do scales to help her remember when each note was.

(Edited as Grizel could not have been ten while still with Grannie... D'oh!)
Author:  PaulineS [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
Thanks for the update. The contrast for Grizel is really emphasised in this post. Thanks.
Author:  Lesley [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
Poor Grizel - must have been such a shock for her when she met her step-mother
Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
Thankyou for the update - I like the explanation for Mr C. not being at the front, it explains his later attitude so well.
Author:  Lyanne [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
ChubbyMonkey wrote:
Thankyou for the update - I like the explanation for Mr C. not being at the front, it explains his later attitude so well.


(Not drabble!)

Yes, I'm pleased with that, though as I said, it did give me a block! I hadn't thought about the War till I put down the dates, then couldn't have him at the Front... so just kept thinking and thinking, then it came to me!
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
Really nice to see more of this. Can't wait to see how Grizel's mother fits into it all
Author:  cal562301 [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 3:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
This is really interesting. Looking forward to more.

Thanks, Lyanne.
Author:  Alison H [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
ChubbyMonkey wrote:
Thankyou for the update - I like the explanation for Mr C. not being at the front, it explains his later attitude so well.


Me too :D .
Author:  shazwales [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
Just found this,thanks Lyanne looking forward to reading more :)
Author:  Abi [ Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
It's really interesting to see how much Grizel enjoys music in these early days and, I think, helps to explain why she is so good at it later on even though she grows to detest it.
Author:  Lyanne [ Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 18 July 2010 p2)
Abi wrote:
It's really interesting to see how much Grizel enjoys music in these early days and, I think, helps to explain why she is so good at it later on even though she grows to detest it.


I think that can be a common theme for so many people - they want to take up a hobby, they do, do well at it, but then other people take control of it and insist it is done in such a way and it beomes a chore and even a burden. One of our preschool mums makes beautiful cakes, and we tell her she is wasted in an office and should take it up professionally - but she says it's her hobby, her relaxation.

Henry and Ursula lived a fairly quiet life until the War was over, although they managed to socialise with Ursula’s friends and Henry quickly became a favoured Bridge partner. He was glad of this as he avoided his and Maude’s friends now. Ursula had plans to re-decorate the apartment, but had to content herself with having it painted white throughout and having the latest linens until after the War. She was very impressed with Art Deco and told Henry she wanted to change everything in the apartment.
“Darling, the whole point of Art Deco is having everything so lovely and new and matching, it’s not about having some stuffy old Morris curtains hanging next to a Mackintosh sideboard. And it would be just unbearable to have some rooms looking wonderful and the others so boring. We must have the whole apartment done, don’t you see?” she cooed and nestled her head up against his shoulder.
Author:  Alison H [ Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 19 July 2010 p2)
All change then! It can be very difficult for someone and their new partner to be part of a group of friends associated with a previous partner, but it's a shame that he's losing touch with everyone he knew before.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 19 July 2010 p2)
Can understand why they moved to a new group of friends, its a lot easier in some ways. Thanks, nice to see more.
Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 19 July 2010 p2)
It would still be nice to stay in touch with some friends, but I can understand that.

Thankyou.
Author:  Lyanne [ Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 19 July 2010 p2)
And life continued in this happy vein until things began to happen.
First, Grannie caught a cold that would not shift. Doctor Trevanion sighed after the examination.
“Really, Mrs Cochrane, this is to have been expected. No, there is no sign of any tuberculosis!” He gave in hasty answer to her questioning look. “But although you have always enjoyed excellent health, these past few years, you have led the life of a younger woman with young Grizel. All these country walks in the rain have now caught up with you, as has Father Time. I think it is time to ask Mr Cochrane to take Grizel back.”
As was to be expected, Grannie did not want to relinquish her delightful companion and beloved granddaughter. She quickly began to rearrange their household to allow her to rest more. The wonderful Miss Pettigrew had a younger sister who came to be a companion to Mrs Cochrane and walk Grizel to school, and Grannie explained why she could no longer cheer on Grizel’s netball matches.
“Grizel, it would be very foolish of us to ask Doctor Trevanion for his advice and then ignore it. I cannot go for our lovely splashy walks anymore, or watch your netball matches – it does get cold standing at the side you know! But I have arranged for Edith Pettigrew to come and live with us – she will walk you to school and go on your county walks, and of course she always watches the games anyway.”
Grizel knew Edith Pettigrew well – the younger Miss Pettigrew made no secret to her young friends of her keen love of sports and was a jolly sporty addition to any netball training session. Although Grizel did not know it, Edith Pettigrew wanted to train as a PE teacher, but her mother did not wish her to go away to college. So Edith was allowed to help at her old school, and living with the Cochranes, could still be near her mother and sisters.
Author:  Lesley [ Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
So Grizel now has her role model? Sad that she had the same problem with a parent not wanting her to progress.


Thanks Lyanne
Author:  Alison H [ Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
Miss Pettigrew sounds great.
Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
I'm so pleased she was surrounded by people this nice beforehand.

Thankyou.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
I'm glad Granny kept her as long as she could
Author:  Pado [ Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
Wonderful explanations for why Grizel acts and thinks as she does. More, please!
Author:  mohini [ Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
I am glad Grizel had at least a happy childhood.
Thanks Lyanne
Author:  ivohenry [ Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Why Grizel ran off to Schaffhausen (updated 20 July 2010 p2)
Please may we have more of this soon!!
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