"One of Those Heathen Customs"

In the House of Commons last week brisk Brigadier Ralph Rayner, a Tory, made an eloquent plea to Food Minister John Strachey. All that he asked on behalf of his constituents in the tiny Devonshire village of Kingsteignton was one ram. Each spring for many centuries (no one knew exactly when it began) the villagers celebrated a legendary pagan rite: they thanked the gods for their spring water by sacrificing a ram. Then they drank and danced, roasted the ram and feasted on the mutton. Rayner pleaded: "Is the Minister aware . . . that it is very unlucky to interfere with customs and traditions which have been prevalent for so long?" Regretfully, but firmly, harried John Strachey said No; Kingsteignton could not have a ram to roast.

But custom dies hard in England. To Kingsteignton's rescue came Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, who invited the village's ram-roast committee to the deer park of his 3,000-acre estate, let them shoot a buck. With that slight deviation to modern complexities, the village planned to carry on its ancient rite this week. But Kingsteigntonians were still rankled by the irreverent crack of a Communist M.P. during Rayner's plea. The Commie sneered that this was "one of those heathen customs the Conservative Party wants to retain."

The Purists

In the House of Commons last week, Labor M.P. Benn Levy asked if the Parliament dining-room menus could henceforth be printed in English instead of French. Promptly, Mrs. Ayrton-Gould gave Levy a quick lesson in French and economy. Said she: "May I point out to the Honorable Member . . . that hors d'oeuvres is described as 'an appetizing savoury of vegetables, fish, etc., served before the first course'. . . . It would not be easy to print this shortly and concisely on the menu. . ."

Asked Purist M.P. Ian Mikardo: "Will the Honorable Lady do what she can to ensure that the French is correct? Is she aware that on today's luncheon menu no fewer than four accents were missing?"

Gloomed disillusioned M.P. George R. Chetwynd: "If the Honorable Lady is short of words to describe dishes in concise English,* would not 'sausage meat' do?"

* In faraway Teheran the Ritz Hotel featured Arestu on its menu. A TIME correspondent Ordered it, found it to be the local way of writing Irish stew.

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