I spotted this tiny book in a Treloars catalogue, and knew it must be secured, whatever the price. The price was $35, for a publication of two pages in pamphlet form. An indulgence, maybe – but as it happens, I had a license to indulge (a book voucher)….and there are some actions that need to be taken, however irrational they might seem from afar. The Chanty of the Nona, by Hillaire Belloc, now enjoys its rightful place in the Boatshed library. It is, indeed, a slender volume: the Treloars staff took at least a week to locate it – hidden amidst all the priceless tomes. The poem is fair to middling, and likewise the setting….but even so, I am glad the Chanty has found its home.
Nothing like a bit of well-targeted indulgence — I remember Hilaire Belloc’s ‘The Cruise of the Nono’, which must be where this comes from.
Sorry, Nona — my Italian family influence creeping in. .