Losing our culture

By Brian Clegg

My favourite comic strip of all time is The Perishers. Published in the Daily Mirror from the late 50s until 2006 it could be taken at first glance as something of a Peanuts rip-off. After all, it features only children and animals – and the central characters are a boy and his dog (whose thoughts are revealed to be very human-like). However, in reality the feel and the humour is totally different and entirely British. At its best, The Perishers is a total delight.

One of the strip’s features is a series of running jokes, some of which carried on for decades. For example, on summer holiday excursions, the characters regularly take a look in a rock pool, where the crabs believe they are being visited by their equivalent of UFOs which they refer to as ‘the eyes in the sky’, often having failed protests or attempts to take on the invaders. Other continuing jokes are just small features that bring on a smile, one being the teddy belonging to Baby Grumpling, a cynical toddler who is generally out for what he can get (pictured above). The teddy is called Gladly.

And this is where the culture bit comes in – because my children’s generation simply wouldn’t get the joke behind that name. The key to it is that the teddy is cross-eyed. So, it is ‘Gladly, my cross-eyed bear’, a reference to a now obscure Victorian hymn called Keep Thou My Way, which includes the line ‘Kept by thy tender care, gladly the cross I’ll bear’. (Most people, me included until I looked for it, thought there was actually a hymn named ‘Gladly my cross I’d bear’.) This was not by any means an original joke, but beautifully incorporated into the comic strip.

When my generation was growing up, hymns were familiar things. I didn’t go to church as a child, but we sung them in school every day. Since then I’ve had a lot more exposure, because at university I joined my college chapel choir, got hooked on church music and have been singing in church choirs ever since. But that’s just an underpinning. I’ve never sung that hymn – it’s not commonly used in Anglican settings. (To be honest, I doubt if it’s commonly used anywhere, as it’s pretty awful Victoriana.) But the idea behind the joke was very much part of the culture 50 years ago.

We are now very enthusiastic that people celebrate their cultures. It feels rather sad that what was a rich vein of British culture is now being left behind.

See all of Brian's online articles or subscribe to a weekly digest for free here

Now Appearing is the blog of science writer Brian Clegg (www.brianclegg.net), author of Inflight Science, Before the Big Bang and The God Effect.