As I may have mentioned my dad was an actor, as
well as earning a living as a Headteacher. I remember him as Macbeth. In that production there is a little lad who gets killed... Little
Macduff..
AND I played the part, (aged 12) .. my love of the play
has never waned, I knew it inside out. How strange, Shakespeare had
men playing women and yet here I was playing a boy.
Over a holiday, just prior to the production, Dad started
growing a beard... he reasoned that his false beard would look correct if it
followed the lines of his natural beard... and he was so right... his Macbeth
looked amazing..
My Dad suffered from depression, that's the
genetic link I have to depression... his dad did too .. and who
knows how many generations this goes back. I'm fortunate,
medication helps me and generally I'm OK , except when I get over-tired, then
it's difficult.
When dad was down, I well remember him using the expression
"On with the Motley"..He knew he had to try to put on a good face and
cope with the world , no-matter how low he was feeling....
He explained to me that there were various meanings of
motley, but in a certain opera, the fool had been deserted by his love, and yet
had to be jolly, bright and gay... it was his job. So even though the fools’
heart was breaking he had to put on a good face.
Tonight I Googled the phrase, to find it's actual origin..
"The first recorded use of 'on with the motley' is in
Pagliacci, an opera by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, 1892. The text was translated into
English in 1893 by F. E. Weatherlby
Thou art not a man, thou’rt but a jester!
On with the motley, and the paint, and the powder!
The people pay thee, and want their laugh, you know!
If Harlequin thy Columbine has stolen, laugh Punchinello!
The world will cry, "Bravo!"
What has this to do with me , you may ask?
Well, when I got up this morning I looked so pale and ill, I
decided that from now on I should wear make-up. I will present to you all, and
to myself a brighter picture.
I am OK, (even though this is a shit illness) but looking ill
doesn't help how I feel people may respond to me, and vice versa... So look forward to
a brighter looking Nikki from now on! My alarm set 15 mins earlier..
I hope we will all benefit from this positivity.
But don't forget, even if I'm looking bright..
HUG ME, I'VE GOT MND
So on reading the blog, the word motley crew sprang to mind. So googling like you I found: Since at least the 14th century, 'motley' (with a variety of spellings) has been the name of a type of cloth made from two or more colours and, in later years, the name of clothing made from such cloth. The best-known wearers of motley were jesters of harlequins and the patchwork costume became their standard style of stage dress. This fits in with your text and 'on with the motley'. However motley crew is something else: From the 17th century onward, any miscellaneous ragbag of undisciplined ne'er-do-wells might find themselves described as a 'motley crowd', 'motley herd', 'motley assembly' etc. Added to this list, but with no especial significance came 'motley crew'. You learn something every day x
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