Radiologia de la articulacion Temporomandibular

Local memory further clarifies: ‘He and his family played a very active part in the village life and this was altogether new, as although the Parsons family participated in the village, theirs was a much more authoritarian regime, tempered with benevolence.’ Then again

The whole Buchan family made themselves an integral part of the community and went to great lengths to play an active part in the village life. Mrs Buchan was president of the Women’s Institute and the meetings had a special aura, being held in the august Manor drawing room. This was also the venue for the thriving amateur dramatic society, which had such success in the county competitions.475

It is worth remembering that Buchan was in a difficult position as owner of the Manor House but not also Lord of the Manor like his predecessor. Even though that ownership had been taken over by the impersonal and non-resident foundation of Christ Church, Miss Parsons represented the recent owners, and still living in the parish, had justification in continuing to carry out some of the seigniorial duties, daily attending at the school, ‘to give an acknowledgement of her presence.’ Indeed, ‘some unspoken rivalry between the old and the new regimes’476 was expressed in the Christmas and Easter parties which both provided, to the obvious advantage of the village children. Despite living with this duality, the Buchans seem to have played their part well, carrying

out their obligations to the village as a sort of benign presence and their largesse reached its zenith in the festive seasons [....] But it was all the year round that their obvious appreciation of the Oxfordshire countryside made a bond between us, even if the still rigid class system meant that we did not share it on an equal footing. We had no idea, for instance, that the motorbike often seen outside the Manor actually belonged to the famous Lawrence of Arabia; in any case we had never heard of him.477

474 _{Clark, Elsfield, 13-14 - Johnnie Buchan (Always a Countryman) wrote the best thing about Elsfield.}

475 _{Curtis, ‘Elsfield Village,’ 1: ‘Not only was Susan Buchan concerned to support her husband in all his varied} responsibilities, she also turned her face towards the village, involving herself with not just the physical well being of the residents, but the social and educational aspects of the women’s lives. She did this through the Women’s Institute, the Elsfield branch of which she founded the year after her arrival in the village.’ Ibid., 2; Masheder, Carrier’s Cart, 83.

476 _{Ibid, 126.}

477 _{Ibid., 83. Lawrence, always coming unannounced, ‘a man in Air Force uniform on a motor-cycle, wanted to see} Buchan one Sunday morning, the family all at Church; not stating his business, the butler sent him away, to Buchan’s consternation when he returned shortly afterwards: SJB, 241-42.

Though not in their home but the school, they still gave the children’s party which one recalled as ‘the highlight of Christmas’ and ‘the presents were lavish.’ In addition

there was always a pair of sheets for the farm workers’ families; these were made of unbleached calico and, although they looked brown, in the end they bleached in the sun and became softer as time went by. The Buchan boys used to get out the pony and trap and distribute Mrs Charlock’s puddings labelled, ‘Happy Christmas and please return the basin.’ There was also a half pound of tea per family, which was still quite expensive in those days.

Then there were the village concerts:

First on the scene was Mrs Buchan, who would give a heart rendering [sic] version of, “You must rise and call me early mother, for I’m to be queen of the May, mother, for I’m to be queen of the May.” I can still recall the rapture on her face, as she made the tears flow. Her daughter Alice’s speciality was the song, “For I would be a dancer, a dancer all in yellow-o, Said the frog to the fish, again-eo.” The Buchans spoke with an aristocratic accent, far removed from the broad Oxfordshire that most of us were brought up to speak. So when [...] the blacksmith got up to sing with gusto, “Give I lots of pudding...” there was quite a contrast.478

Drama was another ‘integral part of village life and like the concerts it seemed to cut across class barriers. The initiative came from Mrs Buchan and later, Alice, her daughter.’ Oxfordshire was noted for its local competitive drama, with the finalists performing at Summertown. Among the judges was the young Tyrone Guthrie, then a BBC producer. In one finalist play Mrs Buchan reversed roles

when she played a country yokel, with a battered hat and a straw in his mouth. She entered into the part wholeheartedly and with much aplomb, however Tyrone Guthrie did spot an incongruous gold bracelet showing from under her (or his) smock with the electric light reflecting on it.479

Buchan himself also played a real part in all this local involvement. Of course, he did not have the same time to give to such activity, but he did not stand aloof from it either. In 1933, he appeared as Sir Francis Tresham in his daughter’s play ‘The Fifth of November’ which was produced in Elsfield and won first place in the Oxford Drama Festival.

As a childhood eye-witness Mildred Masheder had this revealing paragraph which shows Buchan’s intimacy with those living just around him: ‘Mr Buchan was a familiar figure

478 _{Masheder, 123, 113.} 479 _{Ibid., 115-16.}

riding round the countryside on his beautiful bay horse, always passing the time with the villagers, who had nothing to fear from his ascendancy.’

That ‘he would attend church every Sunday in the very front pew with his wife and his family of four’480 provides a striking demonstration of his ecumenical approach to the practice of regular weekly Christian worship. Moreover, to Buchan’s supposed modest and retiring involvement there would be one other notable exception. His regular commitment would rapidly lead on to office-bearing.