#wroxton

Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole visited Wroxton in 1980. The sculptor, Moelwyn Merchant is on his left and Dean John Seagrave is on his right.

* William Moelwyn Merchant (5 June 1913 – 22 April 1997) was an academic, novelist, sculptor, poet and Anglican priest. He was born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales, and his first language was Welsh. He was educated at University College, Cardiff. - Wikipedia

memo:

左端のMoelwyn Merchantという人のことを調べているうち、Sian Phillipsのautobiographyにこの人物とのことが出てくることに気がつきました。私はこの自伝を買ったものの、まだしっかりとは読んでいません。思いつきで飛び飛びに読んでいるので、全体像がまったくわからないままです。それはともかく、この人物が出てくるところを自分の覚書として抜粋しておくことにしました。後半部分は、この人物とは関係ないかもしれませんが、「私たち3人」とあり、PeterとSianと、あと1人が誰のことなのか、どこかの記事に書かれていたのか、今すぐには思い出せないまま、この段落部分に続いて書かれている事柄で、内容がよく知られている（と思います）私が好きなエピソードについてなので、ついでにここに書いておくことにしました。

以下の自伝に出てくるMoelwyn Merchant氏とのことは、O'Toole in preparation for The Merchant of Venice, ...という文章があるので、1960年か1959年の終わり頃の話だと思います。

My tutor from university days, Moelwyn Merchant, is free to discuss The Merchant with O'Toole. We visit him near Caerleon and the men talk Shakespeare line by line and we women talk obstetrics. Is it being pregnant that excludes me from everything interesting? I hate Women's Talk. I'm sure that having a baby will be a breeze and there's nothing to talk about. I want to talk about Shakespeare. I feel mutinous.

And yet I have more fun with this Irishman than I've ever had in my life. One night he decides to cook dinner - he's never been known to cook anything. 'Oh yes. I can make French toast. The best French toast. Just leave me to it.' As the stove explodes into flames and we wrestle it, covered in blankets, out of the house on to the mountainside and the entire kitchen needs repainting and we have no supper, the three of us stand in the flame-lit cold garden and rock with laughter. It's been sad in this house since my Aunt Maya died. It took this conflagration to restore life and ordinary happiness and it took O'Toole to light the fire. He has an invincible drive towards joy and life.