How I met Lord and Lady Nightingale

How I met Lord and Lady Nightingale

 By Joel Recla

Lord means nothing to me, but I am willing to be a Lord for a week or maybe for a month, just to feel how to be one. The feeling to live in a castle, ride a Rolls Royce and hang around with the Royals.

Monarchy is a well-established front marketing concept, the world great interest with the Royal family for the colorful grandeur, the pomp and circumstance and above all the public interest and the gossip that’s attached to the monarchy. The British people love and respect the Queen. And this contributes a great financial diverse distribution of enormous economic progress and wealth for the entire peoples of the United Kingdom.

Years ago I lived in London, England with wonderful memories I will always treasure. Only a handful of Filipinos in the Seventies lived and worked in England.  And most of them were blue collar workers. When peolle are in a foreign country, they feel lonely and isolated, the culture shock is overpowering. Three quarters of the time they are working. They miss their families and loved ones. Most weekends they get together in the park, or watch a movie. Once I was invited to a birthday celebration, an opportunity for me to meet new friends. A few days after, there we were at the Victoria train station, four or six of us, for a two hour-ride, 82 kilometers northwest of London, to the City of Oxford. Known world- wide as the home of the Oxford University, the oldest English university in the world. I was so excited, it was my first time to be out of London.

We arrived in Oxford late evening, where white clouds turned dark shaded shadows as we passed on blooming meadows, full of quaking grass. A short distance walk from the main road which was behind a huge brick stone castle was surrounded by tall green weeping willow trees. You could see, smell and feel the English atmosphere because in Oxford it would soon be spring.  The castle was attached to the house by the way of tunnel, with metal doors that open to Pedro’s (the chauffeur) living room house. The house was reasonably large and comfortable. The Filipino couple had a few English guests from the surrounding area. During our conversations, I learned the Lord and the Lady Nightingale were distant cousins of Her Majesty, Queen  Elizabeth. And we were instructed, at any time the Lord and Lady would be (two knocks) at the tunnel steel doors, from the other side, and the chauffer would open the doors. While we waited, the adrenaline was high and tense.

Then the time had come and the guests arrived, the chauffeur announced with his Filipino accent “Guys, let us welcome Lord Nightingale and Lady Nightingale” “Good Evening Sir, Good Evening My Lady” he said. Pulses were rushing, heartbeats speeding up, they looked so positively dashing and so deliciously elegant. We were instructed that evening, to stand still, bow our heads slightly, and smile as long as you can. The Lord in black gentleman suite, the Lady in a black tight body fit dress, with matching bright sparkling large white diamond necklace around her neck, so brilliantly charming. They greeted everyone following the receiving line, saying “Hello, lovely evening” and slowly walked towards the last person at the end of the line, smiling and continued to say “How do you do?” with their Oxford or Royal accent. The couple came in with two greyhound black dogs, behind following them, both dogs also wearing a sparkling white diamond necklaces carefully placed around their necks, matching their well groomed fur and manicured toe nails. I was fascinated, shocked and I felt a daunting experience. I said to myself, only in England.

Cocktail was served and the Lord and the Lady each had a sip on their crystal wine glasses in no time. The Lady said to her chauffeur, “Happy birthday darling, thank you so much for this wonderful evening”. And the Lady, turned around half way, to address everyone and said “you must pardon us, we have to be up early tomorrow for London. Good  evening everyone.” She turned around, walked through the metal doors together with their dogs, and with their sparkling white diamond necklaces, the chauffeur closed the doors behind the Lord and his Lady, together with their Royal dogs.  Back to their Royal castle.  It is a smashing show of arrogance in a real life royal adventure.  From the time they arrived till they said “good night,” it was less than ten minutes.  Afterwards, the celebration went on till midnight, while I pondered.  The following morning, we were all back on the train station to London. This Royal braggadocio was absolutely chilling.  It was too much to deal with. I left Oxford, my mind drifting across the sky.

EPILOGUE –A gratifying experience for me, especially as I learned to love dearly the English culture, the English aristocratic manners and traditions in a magical way, and to top it all, the greatest possession and the noblest accomplishment for anybody to be able to speak the musical and poetic mixture of sounds of the English language. One example is the narrative song from the musical motion picture My Fair Lady (“Why Can’t the English learn to speak?”) Sung and performed by Rex Harrison, that I always enjoyed listening to and singing.  It goes like this, “An Englishman’s way of speaking absolutely classifies him. Set a good example to people whose English is painful to your ears.” The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears. There are even places where English completely disappears. Well in America, they haven’t used it for years! Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak? Norwegians learn Norwegian: the Greek have taught their Greek.  In France every Frenchman knows his language from “A” to “Zed”. “The French never care what they do actually, as long as they pronounce it properly.  Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lighting. The Hebrews learn it backwards which is absolutely frightening.  Use proper English you’re regarded as a freak. So, why can’t the English learn to speak? And there’s no other way, only the English way.”

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Joel Recla is Producer/Radio Host, C.H.I.N. Radio and Television International.