David Scourfield
@jhdscourfield
Classicist and Modernist, Em. Prof. Working on a monograph on E. M. Forster and Classics, and a new edition of his novel The Longest Journey for Cambridge UP. Welsh/Irish.
For the first time ever, our Phormium (New Zealand flax) has produced a tall flowering stalk this year!
Prospect of Maynooth from the Carton demesne; on the right, the spire of Maynooth College chapel (Sean O'Casey's 'dagger through the heart of Ireland').
Gorse looking very fine in Maynooth (Carton) yesterday. The top of Conolly's Folly (1740) looms in the distance.
After two months of what seems like perpetual rain, what a joy to be out in the first real spring day of the year here in Maynooth. A balmy 15 degrees C.
On St David's Day, I remember my maternal grandmother, born 1 March 1904 in Maesteg. Married a coal miner, had three daughters, very poor much of her life, beyond generous.
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi hapus i chi gyd! A very happy St David's Day to everyone! 🏴
Absolutely delighted to receive a copy of the first-ever German translation of Forster's The Longest Journey (1907), by Niklas Fischer, and to have helped a little on matters of interpretation as the project proceeded. A splendidly produced book!
Penarth head from Cardiff Bay, St Augustine's dominating the skyline. Late afternoon, 4 February 2026.
A treasured and (obviously) well used possession for 50 years ...
Very happy to see that next Saturday we'll have a high temperature of 3 and a low of 4.
Today's new arrival -- an extraordinary 1000-page achievement by a dear friend of many years, and indispensable for a piece of work I'm busy with right now!
Honestly, these two restaurants are next to each other in Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton (the northern end of Johannesburg).
The most surprising thing about our lovely safari lodge in South Africa is that all the other guests are Brazilian (and not a single group). BRICS solidarity.