Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

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Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by cronus » Fri May 13, 2016 11:33 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-36266596

Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Newly-discovered documents have cast doubt on Dylan Thomas' reputation as a hard-drinking womaniser.
The poet is described as "shy and retiring" in a previously unseen memoir written by the Thomas family's GP.
Prof John Goodby, of Swansea University, who discovered the documents, said they confirmed the poet's life in Wales "wasn't sensational".

"He was fairly modest, he was sober," said Prof Goodby.

The memoir belonged to Dr David Mendelssohn Hughes, Thomas' doctor in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire.
"He was respectful of the doctor and other authority figures and there was absolutely no womanising while he was living in Laugharne," said Prof Goodby.

"He had regular routines of visiting his mother and father every morning, doing the shopping, going to Brown's Hotel for a couple of pints and returning to the Boathouse to work for four hours or so."

While the memoir praises Thomas' character, it pours scorn on the behaviour of his wife, Caitlin, who is labelled a "first-class bitch".

Meanwhile, a letter written by Thomas to the landlord of a pub in Laugharne has also appeared for the first time.

Dated 8 November 1950, Thomas asks after the welfare of a pig he and the landlord were hoping to fatten up for Christmas. He writes that he is hoping for "a beautiful piggy Christmas" ahead of a trip to Persia in the new year.

"The whole of the time that Dylan lives in Laugharne there has never been a breath of scandal involving Dylan with other women! With admiration of local females, married and unmarried, there surely existed opportunity for unfaithfulness but Dylan can be absolved absolutely from this.

"His capacity for drink was very limited compared with the average 'hearty'. He couldn't drink very much - three or four pints was his absolute limit - his daily limit was two pints in Brown's and on weekends with Phil in the Cross House. He never drank spirits, but in that last trip to America - described in that tragic book by John Brinnin - he undoubtedly posed as a hard drinking genius who could absorb whiskey and this cost him his life."

(continued)
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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by Brian Peacock » Fri May 13, 2016 8:34 pm

"Shy and retiring" = hungover.
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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by Svartalf » Fri May 13, 2016 8:39 pm

if I saw ma GP when I'm hungover, I'd have more serious medical bills than I actually do.
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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by Scot Dutchy » Sun May 22, 2016 4:09 pm

Well listening to his wife who is telling the truth.

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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by Hermit » Sun May 22, 2016 6:11 pm

Scot Dutchy wrote:Well listening to his wife who is telling the truth.

Thanks for the link. Well, so much for those documents. The interview with Caitlin Thomas dispels any doubt about Dylan Thomas' reputation as a hard-drinking womaniser.
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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by cronus » Sun May 22, 2016 6:14 pm

If you gonna leave the show, and keep in mind it isn't really a choice, then either whisky or gin or vodka is the way to go. One thing The Holy Bible got right, strong drink for the dying. :tup: :coffee:
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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by JimC » Mon May 23, 2016 12:34 am

There was of course a Jewish version of Dylan Thomas, whose most famous poem starts with "Do not go Gentile into that good night..."
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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by Brian Peacock » Mon May 23, 2016 12:46 am

Get out of here. :lay:
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: Dylan Thomas GP's memoir reveals "shy and retiring" poet

Post by Scot Dutchy » Mon May 23, 2016 9:51 am

"Wat is het een gezellig boel hier".

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