The Duke of Buckingham and other stories

 I was rubbish at 'A' level History. It was two years utterly wasted at an important, formative stage of one's life in classes provied by two men apparently hell-bent on making you wish you'd not chosen their subject as an option. They certainly convinced me.

Having nominally 'studied' the Tudors and Stuarts then it has taken me until now, by virtue of The Scapegoat book, to realize that George Villiers was actually the most powerful man in the country, not only as Dominic Cummings was when pulling the strings of his idiot puppet, Boris, as the very foremost 'favourite' of James I but shifting his ground to be the same for Charles I, too, that even Dominic wasn't clever enough to do, not being quite so gorgeous, charming and ingratiating.

Old Portsmouth, where I now luxuriate in the music provided on some Thursdays, was where Buckingham was assassinated which, in 1628, was bigger news than the two failed attempts on Donald Trump, all those on Queen Victoria and maybe not far behind that of JFK.

Nearly 400 years later, it's quiet, mostly and a bit select. I now find that Villiers Street, by Charing Cross, where I used to sometimes meet my friend in Gordon's Wine Bar, is one remaining of several streets that were named after him. Buckingham Palace was named after a later Buckingham. George Villiers ended up being stabbed because he was hated by the populace and by someone who took it upon himself to put public opinion into action, his immense good fortune turned to bad. Come back soon for the verdict on this morality tale as told in The Scapegoat by Lucy Hughes-Hallett, which has been an renthralling read. Had we been given such books to read at school I might have found more time for History.

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It took a while but the tide finally turned and some cash has started flowing back the way of the Racetrack Wiseguy, not spectacularly but the damage sustained in the Autumn is being repaired as we move into Winter and a great day's racing yesterday. It's a long and ongoing game and it isn't won in one big plunge. Attempting to do that is a quick way to the poor house. Steady as we go, stick to the plan because it works and then it does.

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Whereas Radio 3 has all but disappeared from my life since its re-scheduling. I feel bad about deserting the flagship of BBC Music but some favourite features have been moved to where they don't fit so well with me and so my own record library provides my own programming more often than not. Perhaps I should leave a radio quietly playing away to itself somewhere in order to defend it against the next round of cost-cutting but it may be safe from those until we get another right-wing government who don't see the point of 'culture' back in.

And the 2024 schedule of concerts is coming to an end soon, too. It has been the 'best year ever' for me, I reckon, so do come back for the Year in Review next month to re-live a few highlights.