The Butler Arms Hotel Saga.
In those days people took pride in how they looked. Mark Twain wrote "Clothes make the Man" and long before Shakespeare wrote "The apparel oft proclaims the man." (Hamlet written about 1600). When people traveled they looked clean and 'spruced up'. Artificially frayed, grubby looking finery hadn't been invented yet and if it had peopled would have collapsed with laughter.
So, all dressed up in our 'best' (we knew that Billy's mother wanted to make sure we would 'fit in' with their fine guests, we set out on our journey to Waterville at the very southern tip of the island. Now in the age of super highways the drive takes only three and a half hours. Then it was an eight hour train journey on a narrow gauge railway. I was astounded when I first came to Canada and saw the size and magnificence railroad system and traveled on the Canadian Pacific Railway's supertrain 'The Canadian'. Little did we know at that time we would travel from coast to coast on that train and down the west coast of the United States to Los Angeles within a couple of years.
We packed up all our requirements, including my drum kit, stuffed them into the car of the only friend I knew who had a vehicle big enough to accommodate them and would dump us off at the railway station. We puffed and chugged so far down to the southern tip of Ireland that if we went a few miles further we'd have been in the Atlantic Ocean.
Billy H was right there on the station platform to welcome us as we got in. Right away we like him. He was about thirty and warm and welcoming and related more like a friend than a potential employer. He helped us collect our luggage, including the drum kit and load them into the hotel van.
"I'll settle you into your living space and give you time to settle in. I have to get to bed early." he said wearily. "I have to be up really early in the morning to play golf with one of the guests." Billy sounded as though this was more of an obligation than a pleasure. Waterville was a golfing, fishing and sailing paradise, so getting up at six am to play golf probably was more work than pleasure. "I'll pick you up about nine o'clock and we will go and see mother."
We were engaged at the time so, in the interests of propriety the management made sure to locate us as far apart as possible. I was at one end of the hotel, Irene at the other. The rooms were very nice and we were invited to use the dining rooms gratis just not at peak hours. We took a walk around the hotel and the surrounding area, impressed by its grandeur.
The recollection of the meeting with Mother seems to have become cloudy over the years, after all it was sixty something years ago. I will attempt to relate it to you as I remember it, without undue embellishment, although as I re-read it it seems a little fantastic, even to me! I therefore will not guarantee its accuracy. This is how it appeared to me.
We met Billy as arranged a little before nine. "Mother likes people to be on time."
We were as they say, nicely 'turned out' and Billy led us into an oak paneled ante- room and went off to do whatever it was that he had to do, assuring us that he would pick us up in a while." it's a really nice day so when you're finished if your like to take a stroll around the gardens I'll catch up with you."
He deposited us in a large ante room. There were double oak doors at one end of the room and after about five minutes one of the doors opened A middle aged woman approached us.
"Hello, Mrs H will see you now. Just walk straight on in."
We walked into a long narrow poorly lit room and at the far end of the room sat Queen Victoria on her throne! Oh no, it was only Mrs H. at her big dark mahogany desk. She seemed very very old to two twenty years old people. We stood before her desk.
" Good morning," said we.
"Good morning," she responded, all the while giving us a good look over.
"You may sit down.". We sat. "And you're a medical student?"
"Yes," said I. "Trinity College.
"And what school did you go to?"
"St. Andrews College." I answered.
"I had a grandson go there." she said casually. "And you?" she asked Irene.
" I went to Wesley College, Dublin."
" These are our expectations. We will expect you to play for two or three hours about three or four times a week. Billy will let you know well in advance. You will be free to enjoy the facilities of the hotel including the dining room other than at peak hours. Be respectful of the guests at all times, we get some very important guests here. Other than that you may mingle freely. You will be on the payroll as of today. That's all. You may go now."
That was it. We had the job. No questions about our musical skills or experience. No desire to hear us play. We looked okay and could communicate satisfactorily. Now Billy was in charge.
I was at one end of the hotel, Irene at the other. Having said this we were very pleased with our accommodation and we were treated like guests at the hotel, ate in the dining room with the guests and welcomed to participate in any of the hotel activities. Billy was actually a nice guy , and easy to work for. There was a couple of regular scheduled dances and occasionally unscheduled ones. When there was an unscheduled one, Billy would come and politely say, "we thinking of having a bit of a spontaneous hop tomorrow night when we get back from a fishing trip. Would that be alright with with you and Irene?"
He was, in fact, the entertainment manager and despite his laid-back and easy manner worked quite hard at it. He invited us along to various activities he arranged and on more than one occasion I heard him moaning, "Oh I better get home to bed, I have a meeting to play golf with some of our golfing guests." Poor Billy!
Waterville was famous for its golf courses and fishing as well as some of the world's most magnificent rugged scenery. Dingle Bay and the 'Ring of Kerry' boasts some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Its history tends to be overlooked in the part it played in the connection between the old and New World. (See plaque above).
Many famous people found this area to be a respite from the tumult of twentieth century. Among the most famous was Charlie Chaplin, who returned so frequently that Waterville commissioned a statue of him that they erected on a Beach-side walk that they called, logically enough, Charlie Chaplin Way. J.P.Morgan and Walt Disney were also guests at the Butler Arms. None of them arrived in time to see Irene & Stan, Piano, vocal, drums.
I think I still have a few of our business cards kicking around our memorabilia!
We did run into a few memorable characters. We were sitting out on the patio one sunny day having our mid afternoon tea and scones. The tables were mostly occupied when a large well dressed - in the American style, man and a young East Indian boy inquired if they could join us.
"Certainly," said Irene. They sat down at our table.
"I'm Jack Zuckerman ," he said with a very New York accent of the Brooklyn dialect. "This young man here is the Prince of Baroda, his mother is the Maharani of Baroda. She is over here for a holiday and to buy some Irish thoroughbred horses. I'm their bodyguard." said Jack. "I guess twenty-five years in the New York Police Department qualifies me for the job. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a 'gold' NYPD badge. "This is what they gave me when I retired." he said proudly. He ordered a coffee for himself and a lemonade for the Prince. He was a certainly a larger that life character, reminiscent of a Damon Runyon ("Guys and Dolls") character. He had some good stories to tell and was entertaining company. After they left Kerry they were going to Dublin for a while and Jack asked us if we had any suggestions about what to do to entertain the 'kid' , who was a very nice kid, to keep him amused, while his mother was buying Irish thoroughbred horses. We had a few suggestions and when he asked Irene about her folks and heard she had a little sister about the prince's age, he said " I might just drop in on them". He did. And that's how my wife's baby sister is the only one in the family who spent an afternoon playing with a prince!
When we weren't performing or doing something at the hotel, we would visit the local pub. It was a fun place frequented by locals and tourists alike. The licensing laws in Ireland were very rigid and pubs were not supposed to serve liquor after ten thirty PM. The Irish found many ingenious ways to circumvent that ridiculous rule. The local police officer was a customer as well as a law enforcer and would warn customers when he dropped in at ten fifteen or so, "better order up, ladies and gents, no liquor can be served after ten thirty." Apparently it was legal to finish off whatever drink you had on the bar or at your table. The result when the 'last call' was announced was that the patrons would order two or three drinks and as long as no alcohol was served after ten thirty they were within the bounds of the law. And the local cop, Seamus joined the crew! Finishing off the drinks already on the bar or the table often took another hour or two!
I saw my first mosquito in Kerry. Generally Ireland is too cool for mosquitoes, however although the country is only 486 km long the temperature in the southern tip is warm enough to nurture palm trees and mosquitoes.
The days flew by all too quickly and it was soon going to be time to get back to school. It was one hell of a summer!
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