Number in series 8; Year of publication 1914 - Fell and Rock ...

24 THE FELL AND ROCK CLIMBING CLUB JOURNAL.
CLIMBING PER SONG.
By ARTHUR WELLS.
It is the purpose of this article to call attention to a
certain school-possibly it is an ideal-of climbing to
which adequate recognition has not yet been given. It
is quite true that it has not altogether escaped notice. It
is also the case that its exponents, as a rule, are very
modest about their exploits, and actually shrink from
public attention. Its adherents are not numerous, and
they evoke very little deliberate emulation among
climbers in general. One of the few affectations, however,
to which climbers as a class are prone is that of
suggesting, more particularly on festive occasions, that
they do as a matter of fact belong to this choice Society
and pursue its ideals, whereas the great majority of them
never practice its methods at all. It is not desired to
pass judgment on this affectation, but it hardly seems
right that so little honour should be given to actual
exemplars of the methods which we so often profess in
public and so rarely practise in private.
The select band to which I refer is probably united by
some Celtic strain in their ancestry which makes it
natural for them to look to the songs of their brotherhood
for what is highest and best in the climbing world, and
that which they find embodied in those songs they make
their aim and purpose.
Thus, we find the members of the Fell and Rock Climbing
Club, at most of their gatherings, singing their glorious
club slogan and telling the world how they spend their
lives in jeopardy, while others live at ease. To those who
do not take song seriously this may mean but little, but
to the fine spirits of whom I am speaking this represents