The Enid Blyton Society

Comes a train of little ladies
From scholastic trammels free,
Each a little bit afraid is,
Wondering what the world can be!

Is it but a world of trouble —
Sadness set to song?
Is its beauty but a bubble
Bound to break ere long?

Are its palaces and pleasures
Fantasies that fade?
And the glory of its treasures
Shadow of a shade?
And the glory of its treasures
Shadow of a shade?
Shadow of a shade?

Schoolgirls we, eighteen and under,
From scholastic trammels free,
And we wonder — how we wonder! —
We wonder — how we wonder! —
What on earth the world can be!
What on earth the world can be


I'm quite a fan of G&S (just to get even more off topic!)

Then would that make Nigel a Second Trombone... or the Lord High Executioner??

Here's a version I hadn't seen before - rather cute!

I'd never seen that either! Very novel! Thanks for sharing!

Heck! That's on train I wouldn't want to be on.

Then would that make Nigel a Second Trombone... or the Lord High Executioner??

I think I'd be a modern major general!

Would you do it orphan... frequently?

(I think I'd better butt out and let this thread go back on topic)

"orphan"? Sorry, you've lost me there (I bet I regret posting this...)

Edit: Just got it. Haha!

It's a line from 'Pirates of Penzance' Do they call you orphan frequently...no only once...

Exactly, you said orphan, frequently, only once!

(You need an RP accent for the orphan/often pun to work.)

Oh, I don't know, Goon managed it!

Maggie Knows wrote:It's quite funny though when Mischief the monkey pelts everyone at Kirrin Cottage with raisins...!!!

It's slightly odd how the adventure ends, I think, with Julian asking the policeman to order him a car to take them all back home. They've only been at the lighthouse for 2-3 days, and although I'm sure they would like to tell of their adventure, doesn't it put them right back in the middle of the reason why they left to go to Demons Rocks in the first place, having to tip-toe around two mad scientists?

What a good observation.One that I never spotted when originally reading the book.
Yes,I'm sure they would have got a frosty reception back at Kirrin Cottage!!!!

pete9012S wrote:

Maggie Knows wrote:It's quite funny though when Mischief the monkey pelts everyone at Kirrin Cottage with raisins...!!!

It's slightly odd how the adventure ends, I think, with Julian asking the policeman to order him a car to take them all back home. They've only been at the lighthouse for 2-3 days, and although I'm sure they would like to tell of their adventure, doesn't it put them right back in the middle of the reason why they left to go to Demons Rocks in the first place, having to tip-toe around two mad scientists?

What a good observation.One that I never spotted when originally reading the book.
Yes,I'm sure they would have got a frosty reception back at Kirrin Cottage!!!!

It also puzzled me that Julian thought the police should have the task of arranging taxis.

Demon's Rocks was one of the last FF books I read as a child, and I remember finding it quite disappointing. It was an improvement on Finniston Farm, but that's not saying much, and as in Together Again, I found the character of Tinker, extremely annoying. What a comedown from some of the great support characters of earlier books like Jo and Henry. Rereading the book as an adult, only confirmed my childhood opinion. Enid should have finished the series in 1958 with Get Into A Fix, although I do have a soft spot for Mystery To Solve.

I actually regard Demons Rocks as one of my favourites. The lighthouse and the rest of the adventure- except for the tide coming in and (logically) never going out -beyond the tunnels under the lighthouse.

I have always liked Demon's Rocks too. It's probably the last decent FF book. Although I do quite like Mystery to Solve it's too scrappy to be a good book. Enid should probably have ended the series with Demon's Rocks.

It has all the classic Blyton ingredients with smugglers, lost treasure, tunnels, rocky coastline, lighthouse and storms. There's a hint of terrible danger when they fear the lighthouse could fall down which I found terribly exciting as a child. I haven't read the book for a number of years now; possibly it's a bit far fetched but as a child I loved it and don't remember being disappointed with it as an adult either.

The one jarring note is Tinker and his idiotic car noises. Why Enid Blyton thought that a boy who did car impressions would be a good idea we will probably never know; she obviously thought it a good idea as she resurrected him two books later. A boy with a lighthouse is no stranger than a girl with an island and Mischief the monkey is in keeping with Blyton's insistence on having animals around but the car noises? Grrrr.

Tinker also appeared in some of the Voilier books, so Claude must have had a soft spot for him as well.