Note from Ginger: Margaret is an award-winning Australian Author and a favorite author of mine.
A SYMBOL OF COWARDICE BY MARGARET TANNER
For several hundred years the white feather
was handed out as a symbol of cowardice.
Who could forget the powerful movie, The
Four Feathers, taken from a novel by A.E.W. Mason? It starred Heath Ledger and
Kate Hudson? Set in 1884, against the background of the Sudan War. A British
Officer, who resigned his post just before going into battle, is handed four
white feathers. One is from his fiancée and the other three from his army
friends.
In England, in August 1914, The Order of
the White Feather was founded by Admiral Charles Fitzgerald, to shame men who
would not enlist for the 1st World War. Women mainly handed out
these feathers to young men who were not in uniform. Sometimes they would stick
the white feather in the lapel of the man’s coat. Of course, these women didn’t know or
obviously care, that many men who may have volunteered for the army had been
rejected because of health reasons, or perhaps they had a vital job to perform
in munitions etc.
Many men were persecuted or shamed into
joining the army, sometimes with deadly results, or if the army would not take
them, they were driven to suicide. The stigma of having been handed a white
feather stayed with some men for a lifetime.
Here is a short extract from my novel,
Daring Masquerade, published by Books We Love. It shows how unfair and cruel
the act of handing out a white feather could be.
Ross is the hero, Harry the heroine and Gil
is her wounded soldier brother and the recipient of the white feather.
***
Harry stared into the shop windows as they
sauntered along the street. Poor Gil had pushed his stump into his pocket so no
one could see his missing hand. Her heart bled for him. She went to slip her
arm through his. Remembering at the last moment that she was supposed to be a
boy, she hastily drew back.
The verandah covered shops were made of the
same yellow sandstone as the pretty little church they had passed coming into
town. A small rotunda set amidst lawns and colorful flowerbeds, stood at the
end of the main street.
“We need to support our soldiers after
their valiant battle in the Dardenelles. They’re crying out for reinforcements,”
a portly gentleman said. “What type of man would loaf around here while his
fellow Australians are dying in the trenches?”
“Here, here,” a well-dressed young woman
cried out. “Conscript all the shirkers who won’t enlist.”
“What are you doing here, young man? Aren’t
you ashamed to be so cowardly as to let other men fight for you?” A middle-aged
matron shoved a white feather into Gil’s hand.
“You old bitch,” Harry yelled, knocking her
hand away, while Gil stood pale and shaking. “How dare you accuse my brother of
cowardice?”
“Why doesn’t the coward enlist?” someone
else called out.
“You despicable creatures!” She screamed
back. “You should be arrested.”
Back and forth, Harry and several of the
women hurled insults as more people milled around listening to the argument.
Harry became so inflamed she didn’t care what came out of her mouth. “You
parasites, living comfortably here while forcing someone else to die.”
“Your brother is a coward, young man,” the
portly gentleman said. “He should enlist and do his bit for the Empire.”
“Here, here, Mayor,” someone endorsed his
views.
“He’s done his bit,” she shouted. “You pompous,
overstuffed pig. Show them, Gil, show them your arm.”
From the corner of one eye she saw Ross
striding toward them, but didn’t care. She dragged Gil’s arm from his pocket
and raised it high. “He’s given one hand to the war, isn’t that enough?”
Silence reigned. Amidst the embarrassed
muttering, Ross’s voice rang out loud, clear and deadly.
“What the hell are you up to, Harry?” He
strode forward and grabbed her arm. “Are you mad?”
“They gave Gil a white feather for
cowardice.” She fought him as he dragged her kicking and screaming from the
dais. “They gave Gil a white feather.”
“Shut up,” he snarled, “before you get
arrested. What happened, Gilbert?”
Gil tried to speak, but the words would not
come out. He opened up his hand and a white feather fluttered to the ground.
Hi Ginger,
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting me here. Always a pleasure to visit such a talented author as you.
Cheers
Margaret
Welcome, Margaret ... so lovely to have you here at Dishin' it Out ... Absolutely am intrigued with the excerpt above ... I have DARLING MASQUARADE ... and now I can't wait to read it! Smile.... Rita
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about the white feathers. Informative. Great excerpt and a book I'm dying to read. I'll purchase it soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret for a great post.
*waves* Hi Ginger.
I'd never heard about the white feather either. I love how you wove it into this story. Congrats on another release, Margaret!
ReplyDeleteThe white feather just cried for a novel, Margaret. You couldn't have passed that up!
ReplyDeleteHi Rita,
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me here.
Cheers
Margaret
Hi Lorrie,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for dropping by, I do appreciate it.
Cheers
Margaret
Hi Cate,
ReplyDeleteHope you are well. Nice to catch up with you again.
I always knew that the white feather was handed out as a symbol of cowardice, but didn't realize who started it until I was doing my research for Daring Masquerade.
Best wishes
Margaret
Hi Gail,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, I appreciate it.
I felt like it was a story that had to be told once I stumbled on the information.
Best wishes
Margaret.