A renaissance of the old-school, that's what we

Continuing on from yesterday's post (we're still pretty awestruck by the coterie of Lords and Ladies we had through our doors on Tuesday night) I thought I'd include a picture of Grant and I enjoying the pleasure of Baroness Knight's company.

This was long enough after his foray into athletics that he'd stopped perspiring, which is nice.

I've decided since reading Lord Ferrers' book and following the awesomness of Tuesday that there really should be a renaissance of old-school words.

Remember the good old days when Mrs Dalloway would muse over her memories of Peter Walsh and use words like 'nincompoop' without the slightest sense of irony? And when in Meet Me in St Louis Mr Smith apologises to his wife Anna for being too 'bombastic'? That was before Shaggy pronounced himself 'Mr Bombastic' and its true meaning was lost forever: 'say me fantastic, touch me in me back she say I'm Mr Ro...mantic'. He'd have taken grammer and substance down with him too if he could.

Well, if you don't remember these whimsical days The Rt Hon. the 13th Earl Ferrers does. See how effortlessly he slips this little nugget into his prose:

'...I learnt the simple art of going up to a boy, who was standing with his legs fairly close together, and with the side of my own foot, pushing his feet together. Down he went. Every time. It was a riot – or so I thought – but you could not do it too often. I am afraid to say that I even did it years later at our daughter Angela’s wedding. We were getting Hedenham Hall all tickety-boo on the morning of the wedding and I was in the drawing room on its parquet floor with a long-handled brush. I used it on Andrew. It worked every time. I am afraid that I still find it very funny.'

Tickety-boo! Just brilliant.

And just for good measure, you should know that a gent on Tuesday even used the word 'balderdash'! And he wasn't joking, he was genuinely aggrieved by the cost of a pint in the pub around the corner. Spoken loud and proud.

I couldn't pull it off. But Lord Ferrers and his esteemed chums pull it off a treat. Bring on the renaissance, that's what I say!

Whatever Next? by Earl Ferrers is available now.

A renaissance of the old-school, that's what we need!