Here is yet another heart-warming post from the stable of Plumtopia. The right medicine for those of us who suffer from Wodehousitis and are worried about post-February decline in the severity of their affliction.
‘Archibald’s Benefit’ (1909) is a delightful short story, included in The Man Upstairs (1914). It relates the trials of Archibald Mealing, a keen but inept golfer, and his romance with Margaret Milsom. I say inept. Wodehouse puts it rather better:
Archibald, mark you, whose golf was a kind of blend of hockey, Swedish drill, and buck-and-wing dancing.
To get a sense of Archibald’s style, have a look at this excellent instructional video from Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz (Duke University). One can readily imagine how a dash of buck-and-wing might have impaired Archibald’s success off the tee.
If you’ve not yet read the story and don’t want to know how it ends, you may wish to buzz off at this point and read it. You can find a free e:text version available via Project Gutenberg .
What has golf to do with romance, you ask? Unless you’re already familiar with P.G…
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