THE CHRONICLES OF
HER GRACE THE DUCHESS

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The month of June officially marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern. There are thirty days in the month and is named after Juno, the Roman Goddess of marriage and childbirth. Juno was considered to be the Patron Goddess of Rome and  watch over the women of the city.

Juno

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The birthstones of June are the Pearl, Alexandrite and Moonstone, and its birth flowers are the Rose and Honeysuckle.

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The Summer Solstice (Midsummer) takes place for one-day between the 20th and 22nd of the month and marks the longest day of the year in terms of daylight hours. North of Arctic Circle (The Land of The Midnight Sun), the sun is visible at midnight. This is due to the sun not passing below the horizon. The day is celebrated in several countries and perhaps one of the most memorable is that which takes place at the ancient monument of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, where a number of people gather each year to observe the sunrise alignment with the stones on the summer solstice.

Top: Stonehenge – The Summer Solstice
Bottom: Summer Solstice Ceremony

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A Map of Lapland

A Folksong from Lapland performed by Eivør (1983) & Entitled Trøllabundin (i.e. Spellbound)

I was in Rovaniemi, the regional capital city of Lapland in Northern Finland, a few days after The Summer Solstice in the early 1970s. Although night, as we know, did not truly exist at this time, I remember that there was a moment or two of an almost dusk and then the sky quickly brightened again. It was quite strange to experience bright sunlight so close to midnight. At the Arctic Circle, the sun stays above the horizon for twenty-four hours around the Summer Solstice, but in Rovaniemi, the Midnight Sun lasts for a full month due to the Earth’s tilted axis and the refraction of sunlight.

The Midnight Sun near Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is also renown for being the centre of Christmas Tourism, for the area is believed by some (i.e., young children and the young-at-heart!) to be where Father Christmas/Santa Claus lives and where he and his helpers make toys as gifts for delivery late into the night of the 24th December each year. As a point of interest, the region is home to several hundred thousand Reindeer (evidently needed to pull Santa’s sleigh!)

Father Christmas/Santa Claus & one of his Reindeer at Rovaniemi

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Jerry Keller (1937) – Home Comes Summer; Written by Jerry Keller;
Recorded in 1958 & Released in 1957

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My Father

Confession Time Folks: I never noticed Father’s Day until I saw advertisements to buy gifts for Dad in Woolworth’s store in 1956. My father had not been the best during my younger years, and so, I resented him having A Day! Childish, you may argue, but then dear reader, I was a child! It took me a number of years before I actually acknowledged the day. Of course my father, who rarely remembered birthdays or Christmas of his family members, loved the idea of Father’s Day. I think his eagerness in hoping for a present on the day made me even more resentful of it. My mother also had reticence in remembering the day since she had to buy (and generally pay for) most presents from him for me AND for herself.

Once I asked my mother what I might buy him for Father’s Day and her reply amused me as much then and it does today. She said, and I quote her here: Get him a SMALL packet of FAGS! Fags is a slang word for cigarettes, which were very cheap in the 1950s and 1960s.  A small packet meant ten cigarettes at that time. Luckily for him, they had recently stopped selling packets of five!

My father smoked Wild Woodbines, The Great Little Cigarette, and one of those popular with the Working Man. I remember asking him why he smoked such a horrible cigarette, as its smell made feel ill! He said that once I got older, I would like them too.

As a kid, I stole one of his Woodbines once and took a few puffs and hated it and quickly through the cigarette away. But I have to admit once I got older, as predicted, I found them to be a wonderful smoke! Although I have given up smoking for many years now, whenever I recall the joy of smoking (yes, dear non-smokers, it was a joy!), and should I ever start smoking again, I would without doubt choose a Wild Woodbine as my first cigarette ……… without filter!

Various Sized Packets of Wild Woodbine Cigarettes

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Red Ingle (1906-1965) & The Natural Seven – Cigareetes, Whuskey & Wild, Wild Women (1948)
Written by Tim Spencer (1908-1974)

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One year, I was working in Switzerland and friends took me up into the mountains around the City of Bern. We went to a small Music Box Atelier where I bought my father a really nice Musical Box to hold his cigarettes. The only thing that I was perhaps a little disappointed by was the tune that it played! However on checking the other Musical Boxes on sale, it soon became apparent that they were all installed with the same tune, Lara’s Theme from the film, Doctor Zhivago (1965). I was hoping to find one with a Bernois Folk Song.

The Music Box

I was very pleased with the gift, but when I gave it to him, he was unimpressed and complained that it wasn’t personal enough and asked why I had bought this object for him. He pushed it onto the table and treated it. as if it was a piece of junk and then walked out of the room, presumably to sulk!

I was annoyed and took the gift back. I still have it on display in a prime place in my house. My mother was most annoyed with him and told me not to bother buying gifts for him anymore, as he was ungrateful and nothing ever satisfied him! Of course she was right. I remember that he sulked about the Music Box, I believe, for two, perhaps three days! Now who was the child?!

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Juneteenth is officially known as Juneteenth National Independence Day and is a federal holiday in the United States. It is remembered annually on June 19 since 2021 to commemorate the end of slavery. The day refers to June 19, 1865 which was the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865).

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