Harry Baglole

News today that the great friend and protector of the Island, Harry Baglole, has died.

STILL BEAUTY

The Island is still beautiful ….

Still
can be seen
the spruce-lined fields;
And still
the red cliff rock
joins blue and green.

And still
the quiet grandeur
of ordered farmscape
gives way
to fits
of random
Goldenrod.

That’s Harry, in Cornelius Howatt: Superstar, from 1974.

In the final chapter of that book, Last Will And Testament, The Brothers and Sisters of Cornelius Howatt codified its own demise, finishing with:

And, finally, into the care and keeping of future generations of Islanders we give, bequeath, and entrust this Island, complete with its clean water, fresh air, fertile land and beautiful countryside, to be cherished as the very precious place which it is.

Few Islanders have ever thought as much about Islandness as Harry did, and his understanding of this “very precious place” was profound; echoes of his esoteric enthusiasms will inform us for generations to come.