Dawn Chorus: The seven types of gentleman, the hillsides covered in Cadbury's, and try our Quiz of the Day

It's grey, grim and dreary outside... but Winkworth Arboretum, near Godalming, always brings its own light. Wonderful.

(Image credit: James Jagger/Alamy Live News)

published 6 November 2024

The seven types of gentleman

Country Life's annual Gentleman's Life special issue is always one of the highlights of the year. In the past it's given us the Gentleman Test, looked at the 39 signs that you're a gentleman, and — rather darker — the 39 ways to spot a cad.

This year, it kicks off with a leader article by Victoria Marston which rolls up all those previous years in to one lovely list — a list which draws together everyone from Rudyard Kipling to Roger Federer to Rocky Balboa. Yes, really. It's so good, in fact, that we're reproducing the whole thing right here:

Gentlemen come in many guises, yet there are characteristics that will always lend themselves to being a good egg. Do you belong to any of these categories? Then, to misquote Rudyard Kipling’s If, you are a gentleman, my son!The man who is calm in a crisis‘If you can keep your head when all about you/Are losing theirs and blaming it on you’There have arguably been few men placed under greater stress than Sir Winston Churchill, yet he consistently broadcast courage to the nation. In a galaxy slightly farther away, the level-headed Yoda delivered words of wisdom such as: ‘Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.’The patient soul‘If you can wait and not be tired by waiting’The King spent decades waiting to do the job he was born for, occupying himself by trying to save the planet. In the Old Testament, Job epitomises patience as he suffers endless misfortune without ever losing faith.The light-hearted intellectual‘If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim’There are certain men you know could answer any question, without ever making anyone feel inferior—Sir David Atten-borough is one of them.The good sport‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two impostors just the same’These lines grace Wimbledon’s walls and was there ever a better sportsman than Roger Federer, who never retired during a match?The eternal trier‘Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,/And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools’Thomas Edison failed with his electric lightbulb 10,000 times, yet said: ‘I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work.’ Elsewhere, fictional boxer Rocky Balboa has a dauntless determination to rise from the ashes.The braveheart‘And lose, and start again at your beginnings/And never breathe a word about your loss’Superman actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralysed in a riding accident, stated: ‘A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.’The man of the people‘If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,/Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch’Sir Ian McKellen is one of our most gifted actors; he is also known for being helpful, pleasant and for fighting for equality. Even when portraying the wizard Gandalf, he continues to help those smaller in stature.

Quiz of the Day

1) Who is the current Director-General of the BBC? 2) In which century was Mozart’s Così fan tutte first performed? 3) The Mentha plant genus is commonly known as what? 4) Where in London was bloodstock auctioneer Tattersalls originally based? 5) What is 2016 in Roman numerals?

Quiz answers down below

The hills are alive with the sound of... chocolate?

We're not sure if this idea is brilliantly bonkers or just bonkers, but Cadbury's are promoting their seasonal chocs by, er, plastering the rural hillsides of Britain with giant likenesses of Father Christmas.

Nothing says 'Christmas' better than a 1,000 sq m chalk Santa on a hill in Devon.

The Santas aren't just decorative: apparently each one is close to a poster with a QR code, which apparently lets you send a free 'secret santa' chocolate bar to someone of your choice. We'd assumed that the person you choose ought not to be you, but... I can't see anything on the press release which suggests that you'd be breaking the rules by doing so.

Grow old in style

There are lots of ways of getting older. You can just stay in your existing family home and gently fade away; you can rage, rage against the dying of the light; or you can find a new place to turn a life of work into twilight of charm. There's no right or wrong way, as far as we can see, but as it so happens we've come across two of those three approaches this week.

First up was our podcast with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, who has started designed retirement villages for Rangeford, with a stated mission to end a world where people retire to 'beige coffins' that 'smell of cabbage and wee'. And then, yesterday, we came across this marvellous spot in Lancashire, in the Silverdale area just south of the Lake District, where the trailblazing landscape architect Thomas H. Mawson created a landscape for him and his family to enjoy. It's just wonderful, and it happens to be looking for a new owner.

And finally...

If you're looking for a new party trick, we might just have found it:

A photo posted by on

That's it — we're back tomorrow

Quiz answers

1)Tim Davie 2) 18th century (1790) 3) Mint 4) Hyde Park Corner 5) MMXVI

Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.