fbpx
Wikipedia

Oldest Member (character)

May 01, 2023

The Oldest Member (of a golf club with varying names) is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse. He narrates the majority of Wodehouse's golf stories from the terrace of a golf club whose location is unclear.[1] The location and name of the club change between the stories, and between the US and UK versions of some of the stories.

The Oldest Member (right), 1922 illustration by Tony Sarg for "The Long Hole" in McClure's Magazine

The club's members enjoy having drinks in the clubhouse after a brisk eighteen holes; but they do so fully aware of the risk that the Oldest Member who, (though he has long since given up golf) has seen all and knows all, might pick up on their conversation and begin to relate a story from his experience. Once he has started talking, he cannot be stopped. These stories are often told to another character, a 'young man' who is eager to leave before the story has even started.

Isaac Asimov used a similar format for his Union Club Mysteries.

Inspiration

One of the club's names, Manhooset, may be a reference to Manhasset Bay in Long Island, New York. According to Wodehouse scholar N. T. P. Murphy, Wodehouse played golf at the Sound View Golf Club, which used to exist in Long Island, New York, and used it as the basis for the Oldest Member's club. Sound View is referenced in the Wodehouse's 1966 short story "Life with Freddie". Wodehouse also played at the Walton Heath and Addington courses in the UK. Addington is mentioned in Wodehouse's preface to The Heart of a Goof.[2]

Fictional biography

The Oldest Member is not named in the stories. He has white hair, white eyebrows and white whiskers, and is a bachelor.[3] He appears to be in his seventies or older, since in "The Letter of the Law", he says he went to Oxford with his friend Joseph Poskitt, one of the Wrecking Crew,[4] who are all described as septuagenarians in "Scratch Man".[5] However, the Oldest Member says he attended Cambridge in "The Heel of Achilles". In that story, the Oldest Member tells of a time when he was a young man shortly after finishing his college education. At that time, he worked as the secretary and caddie of American millionaire Vincent Jopp in Chicago.[6]

The Oldest Member's fictional golf club is given various names, including Wood Hills, Woodhaven, Marvis Bay, and Manhooset.[2] The location of his club varies between England and the United States. For example, in "A Woman is Only a Woman", the club is in England and called the Woodhaven Golf Club in the UK version, while it is in the US and called the Manhooset Golf Club in the US version. It is called the Marvis Bay Golf and Country Club in the UK version of "Ordeal by Golf", though it is not located in Marvis Bay in the UK version of another story, "The Heart of a Goof".[3] Fictional golf clubs other than the Oldest Member's are mentioned, including Goldenville (in "High Stakes"), Squashy Hollow (in "Sleepy Time" and other stories), and Wissahicky Glen, the club to which the Oldest Member belonged when he lived in Chicago in "The Heel of Achilles".

He usually tells his stories from his favourite chair on the terrace overlooking the ninth green, and insists on using this chair in "The Purification of Rodney Spelvin".[7] In "Sundered Hearts", which the Oldest Member narrates on a winter evening, he has a good view of the ninth green from inside the clubhouse in the smoking-room.[8] The Oldest Member plays a role in several stories, usually because a fellow golfer came to him for advice. The Oldest Member does not hesitate to offer helpful advice, though his suggestions sometimes have mixed results, such as in "The Salvation of George Mackintosh". In "Tangled Hearts", when discussing Smallwood Bessemer, who annoyed people by giving too much advice, the Oldest Member says to a friend, "I always advise people never to give advice."[9]

In the story "Ordeal by Golf", it is stated that he enjoys telling stories about golf and watching matches, though he himself has not played golf "since the rubber-cored ball superseded the old dignified gutty".[10] He teaches Mortimer Sturgis how to play golf in "A Mixed Threesome" and plays the game himself during the events of "The Salvation of George Mackintosh". Revering golf above all other games, he is shocked when golfer Ambrose Gussett sinks to the level of playing tennis in "Up from the Depths".[11] In "The Awakening of Rollo Podmarsh", it is mentioned that he had opposed the addition of tennis courts to the club grounds and now disapproves of a new bowling green.[12] The Oldest Member is often asked to judge matches and act as a referee, as in the story "Scratch Man" when he referees the club championship final.[13] He sometimes reads golf books, such as Vardon on Casual Water[12] and Wodehouse on the Niblick.[14]

It is assumed in multiple Wodehouse reference works that there is only one character referred to as the Oldest Member.[15] However, because of the discrepancies between the stories, J. H. C. Morris suggested in his book Thank You, Wodehouse that there are at least three characters with that title: one who attended Oxford, another who went to Cambridge (and one of these resides at Marvis Bay while the other does not), and an American one. Morris also considered the possibility that the Oldest Member is Mr. Mulliner, but dismissed this idea for multiple reasons: Mr Mulliner is rarely directly involved in his stories while the Oldest Member is more frequently part of his own stories, Mr Mulliner appears to rely on cues more than the Oldest Member does, and Mulliner's stories are more incredible than those of the Oldest Member.[3]

Stories

The Oldest Member narrates twenty-seven short stories:

Wodehouse also wrote other golf stories that are not narrated by the Oldest Member:

Adaptations

The Oldest Member appeared in one of the short films in the 1924 The Clicking of Cuthbert film series. In the short film, titled "The Clicking of Cuthbert", he was portrayed by E. Ashley Marvin.[16] The other five short films in the series were also based on golf stories by Wodehouse.

William Mervyn portrayed the Oldest Member in an episode of the television series Wodehouse Playhouse, "Rodney Fails to Qualify", which first aired in May 1975.[17] The series also includes episodes based on "Feet of Clay" and "Tangled Hearts".

The 1991 Swedish film Den ofrivillige golfaren was inspired by Wodehouse's golf stories.

Maurice Denham starred as the Oldest Member in a series of radio adaptations of the golf stories.[18] The series, titled The Oldest Member, aired on BBC Radio 4 between 1994 and 1999.[19] The club is called the Prior's Heath Golf Club in the radio series.[20]

The romantic comedy play Love on the Links was adapted from Wodehouse's golf stories. It premiered at the Salisbury Playhouse on 31 May 2018, and starred Michael Fenton Stevens as the Oldest Member. In the play, the Oldest Member's club is called the Wood Hills Golf Club.[21]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ Usborne, Richard (2003). Plum Sauce: A P. G. Wodehouse Companion. New York: The Overlook Press. p. 118. ISBN 1-58567-441-9.
  2. ^ a b Murphy, N. T. P. (2015). The P. G. Wodehouse Miscellany. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. pp. 63–66. ISBN 978-0750959643.
  3. ^ a b c Morris, J. H. C. (1981). Thank You, Wodehouse. St. Martin's Press. pp. 71—74. ISBN 0-312-79494-0.
  4. ^ Wodehouse (1981) [1937], Lord Emsworth and Others, "The Letter of the Law", pp. 78—79.
  5. ^ Wodehouse (1993) [1959], A Few Quick Ones, "Scrtch Man", p. 31.
  6. ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1922], The Clicking of Cuthbert, "The Heel of Achilles", p. 162.
  7. ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1922], The Clicking of Cuthbert, "The Purification of Rodney Spelvin", pp. 223–225.
  8. ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1922], The Clicking of Cuthbert, "Sundered Hearts", p. 76.
  9. ^ Wodehouse (1988) [1950], Nothing Serious, "Tangled Hearts", p. 121.
  10. ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1922], The Clicking of Cuthbert, "Ordeal by Golf", p. 117.
  11. ^ Wodehouse (1988) [1950], Nothing Serious, "Up from the Depths", p. 50.
  12. ^ a b Wodehouse (2008) [1926], The Heart of a Goof, "The Awakening of Rollo Podmarsh", p. 145.
  13. ^ Wodehouse (1993) [1959], A Few Quick Ones, "Scrtch Man", p. 38.
  14. ^ Wodehouse (2008) [1926], The Heart of a Goof, "Jane Gets off the Fairway", p. 194.
  15. ^ See Who's Who in Wodehouse (1991) by Daniel H. Garrison (page 134), Plum Sauce: A P. G. Wodehouse Companion (2003) by Richard Usborne (page 118), and The P.G. Wodehouse Miscellany (2015) by N. T. P. Murphy (page 61).
  16. ^ "The Clicking of Cuthbert (1924)". British Film Institute. 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Wodehouse Playhouse". BBC Genome. BBC. 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  18. ^ Taves (2006), p. 134.
  19. ^ Lavalie, John (25 October 2018). "The Oldest Member: a Titles & Air Dates Guide". epguides. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  20. ^ "The Oldest Member". BBC Genome. BBC. 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  21. ^ "Love on the Links". Wiltshire Creative. 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
Sources
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (2008) [1922]. The Clicking of Cuthbert (Reprinted ed.). London: Arrow Books. ISBN 9780099513865.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (1993) [1959]. A Few Quick Ones (Reprinted ed.). London: Vintage. ISBN 0099819503.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (2008) [1926]. The Heart of a Goof (Reprinted ed.). London: Arrow Books. ISBN 9780099513872.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (1981) [1937]. Lord Emsworth and Others (Reprinted ed.). Middlesex: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140025685.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (1988) [1950]. Nothing Serious (Reprinted ed.). London: Arrow Books Limited. ISBN 0140025685.

May 01, 2023
oldest, member, character, oldest, member, golf, club, with, varying, names, fictional, character, from, short, stories, novels, wodehouse, narrates, majority, wodehouse, golf, stories, from, terrace, golf, club, whose, location, unclear, location, name, club,. The Oldest Member of a golf club with varying names is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P G Wodehouse He narrates the majority of Wodehouse s golf stories from the terrace of a golf club whose location is unclear 1 The location and name of the club change between the stories and between the US and UK versions of some of the stories The Oldest Member right 1922 illustration by Tony Sarg for The Long Hole in McClure s Magazine The club s members enjoy having drinks in the clubhouse after a brisk eighteen holes but they do so fully aware of the risk that the Oldest Member who though he has long since given up golf has seen all and knows all might pick up on their conversation and begin to relate a story from his experience Once he has started talking he cannot be stopped These stories are often told to another character a young man who is eager to leave before the story has even started Isaac Asimov used a similar format for his Union Club Mysteries Contents 1 Inspiration 2 Fictional biography 3 Stories 4 Adaptations 5 See also 6 ReferencesInspiration EditOne of the club s names Manhooset may be a reference to Manhasset Bay in Long Island New York According to Wodehouse scholar N T P Murphy Wodehouse played golf at the Sound View Golf Club which used to exist in Long Island New York and used it as the basis for the Oldest Member s club Sound View is referenced in the Wodehouse s 1966 short story Life with Freddie Wodehouse also played at the Walton Heath and Addington courses in the UK Addington is mentioned in Wodehouse s preface to The Heart of a Goof 2 Fictional biography EditThe Oldest Member is not named in the stories He has white hair white eyebrows and white whiskers and is a bachelor 3 He appears to be in his seventies or older since in The Letter of the Law he says he went to Oxford with his friend Joseph Poskitt one of the Wrecking Crew 4 who are all described as septuagenarians in Scratch Man 5 However the Oldest Member says he attended Cambridge in The Heel of Achilles In that story the Oldest Member tells of a time when he was a young man shortly after finishing his college education At that time he worked as the secretary and caddie of American millionaire Vincent Jopp in Chicago 6 The Oldest Member s fictional golf club is given various names including Wood Hills Woodhaven Marvis Bay and Manhooset 2 The location of his club varies between England and the United States For example in A Woman is Only a Woman the club is in England and called the Woodhaven Golf Club in the UK version while it is in the US and called the Manhooset Golf Club in the US version It is called the Marvis Bay Golf and Country Club in the UK version of Ordeal by Golf though it is not located in Marvis Bay in the UK version of another story The Heart of a Goof 3 Fictional golf clubs other than the Oldest Member s are mentioned including Goldenville in High Stakes Squashy Hollow in Sleepy Time and other stories and Wissahicky Glen the club to which the Oldest Member belonged when he lived in Chicago in The Heel of Achilles He usually tells his stories from his favourite chair on the terrace overlooking the ninth green and insists on using this chair in The Purification of Rodney Spelvin 7 In Sundered Hearts which the Oldest Member narrates on a winter evening he has a good view of the ninth green from inside the clubhouse in the smoking room 8 The Oldest Member plays a role in several stories usually because a fellow golfer came to him for advice The Oldest Member does not hesitate to offer helpful advice though his suggestions sometimes have mixed results such as in The Salvation of George Mackintosh In Tangled Hearts when discussing Smallwood Bessemer who annoyed people by giving too much advice the Oldest Member says to a friend I always advise people never to give advice 9 In the story Ordeal by Golf it is stated that he enjoys telling stories about golf and watching matches though he himself has not played golf since the rubber cored ball superseded the old dignified gutty 10 He teaches Mortimer Sturgis how to play golf in A Mixed Threesome and plays the game himself during the events of The Salvation of George Mackintosh Revering golf above all other games he is shocked when golfer Ambrose Gussett sinks to the level of playing tennis in Up from the Depths 11 In The Awakening of Rollo Podmarsh it is mentioned that he had opposed the addition of tennis courts to the club grounds and now disapproves of a new bowling green 12 The Oldest Member is often asked to judge matches and act as a referee as in the story Scratch Man when he referees the club championship final 13 He sometimes reads golf books such as Vardon on Casual Water 12 and Wodehouse on the Niblick 14 It is assumed in multiple Wodehouse reference works that there is only one character referred to as the Oldest Member 15 However because of the discrepancies between the stories J H C Morris suggested in his book Thank You Wodehouse that there are at least three characters with that title one who attended Oxford another who went to Cambridge and one of these resides at Marvis Bay while the other does not and an American one Morris also considered the possibility that the Oldest Member is Mr Mulliner but dismissed this idea for multiple reasons Mr Mulliner is rarely directly involved in his stories while the Oldest Member is more frequently part of his own stories Mr Mulliner appears to rely on cues more than the Oldest Member does and Mulliner s stories are more incredible than those of the Oldest Member 3 Stories EditThe Oldest Member narrates twenty seven short stories Nine of the ten stories in The Clicking of Cuthbert 1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert A Woman is Only a Woman A Mixed Threesome Sundered Hearts The Salvation of George Mackintosh Ordeal by Golf The Long Hole The Heel of Achilles The Rough Stuff All nine stories in The Heart of a Goof 1926 The Heart of a Goof High Stakes Keeping in with Vosper Chester Forgets Himself The Magic Plus Fours The Awakening of Rollo Podmarsh Rodney Fails to Qualify Jane Gets off the Fairway The Purification of Rodney Spelvin Three stories from Lord Emsworth and Others 1937 The Letter of the Law Farewell to Legs There s Always Golf Five stories from Nothing Serious 1950 Up from the Depths Feet of Clay Excelsior Rodney Has a Relapse Tangled Hearts A single story from A Few Quick Ones 1959 Scratch Man Also includes Joy Bells for Walter a reworking of Excelsior Wodehouse also wrote other golf stories that are not narrated by the Oldest Member Archibald s Benefit in The Man Upstairs The Coming of Gowf in The Clicking of Cuthbert Those in Peril on the Tee in Mr Mulliner Speaking Sleepy Time in Plum Pie Novels prominently featuring golf include Uneasy Money 1916 A Damsel in Distress 1919 and Doctor Sally 1932 Adaptations EditThe Oldest Member appeared in one of the short films in the 1924 The Clicking of Cuthbert film series In the short film titled The Clicking of Cuthbert he was portrayed by E Ashley Marvin 16 The other five short films in the series were also based on golf stories by Wodehouse William Mervyn portrayed the Oldest Member in an episode of the television series Wodehouse Playhouse Rodney Fails to Qualify which first aired in May 1975 17 The series also includes episodes based on Feet of Clay and Tangled Hearts The 1991 Swedish film Den ofrivillige golfaren was inspired by Wodehouse s golf stories Maurice Denham starred as the Oldest Member in a series of radio adaptations of the golf stories 18 The series titled The Oldest Member aired on BBC Radio 4 between 1994 and 1999 19 The club is called the Prior s Heath Golf Club in the radio series 20 The romantic comedy play Love on the Links was adapted from Wodehouse s golf stories It premiered at the Salisbury Playhouse on 31 May 2018 and starred Michael Fenton Stevens as the Oldest Member In the play the Oldest Member s club is called the Wood Hills Golf Club 21 See also EditList of Wodehouse s golf storiesReferences EditNotes Usborne Richard 2003 Plum Sauce A P G Wodehouse Companion New York The Overlook Press p 118 ISBN 1 58567 441 9 a b Murphy N T P 2015 The P G Wodehouse Miscellany Stroud Gloucestershire The History Press pp 63 66 ISBN 978 0750959643 a b c Morris J H C 1981 Thank You Wodehouse St Martin s Press pp 71 74 ISBN 0 312 79494 0 Wodehouse 1981 1937 Lord Emsworth and Others The Letter of the Law pp 78 79 Wodehouse 1993 1959 A Few Quick Ones Scrtch Man p 31 Wodehouse 2008 1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert The Heel of Achilles p 162 Wodehouse 2008 1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert The Purification of Rodney Spelvin pp 223 225 Wodehouse 2008 1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert Sundered Hearts p 76 Wodehouse 1988 1950 Nothing Serious Tangled Hearts p 121 Wodehouse 2008 1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert Ordeal by Golf p 117 Wodehouse 1988 1950 Nothing Serious Up from the Depths p 50 a b Wodehouse 2008 1926 The Heart of a Goof The Awakening of Rollo Podmarsh p 145 Wodehouse 1993 1959 A Few Quick Ones Scrtch Man p 38 Wodehouse 2008 1926 The Heart of a Goof Jane Gets off the Fairway p 194 See Who s Who in Wodehouse 1991 by Daniel H Garrison page 134 Plum Sauce A P G Wodehouse Companion 2003 by Richard Usborne page 118 and The P G Wodehouse Miscellany 2015 by N T P Murphy page 61 The Clicking of Cuthbert 1924 British Film Institute 2019 Retrieved 16 October 2019 Wodehouse Playhouse BBC Genome BBC 2019 Retrieved 16 October 2019 Taves 2006 p 134 Lavalie John 25 October 2018 The Oldest Member a Titles amp Air Dates Guide epguides Retrieved 16 October 2019 The Oldest Member BBC Genome BBC 2019 Retrieved 27 December 2019 Love on the Links Wiltshire Creative 2019 Retrieved 15 December 2019 SourcesWodehouse P G 2008 1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert Reprinted ed London Arrow Books ISBN 9780099513865 Wodehouse P G 1993 1959 A Few Quick Ones Reprinted ed London Vintage ISBN 0099819503 Wodehouse P G 2008 1926 The Heart of a Goof Reprinted ed London Arrow Books ISBN 9780099513872 Wodehouse P G 1981 1937 Lord Emsworth and Others Reprinted ed Middlesex Penguin Books ISBN 0140025685 Wodehouse P G 1988 1950 Nothing Serious Reprinted ed London Arrow Books Limited ISBN 0140025685 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Oldest Member character amp oldid 1147403423, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.