Was Montague Druitt Left-handed?

[spyglass]

Hi all,
For what its worth, I am right handed yet when I played cricket some years back I would always play left handed. I didnt even realise until it was pointed out to me.
And when I tried golf, I found it more naturel to play left handed.

Regards.

[Semper_Eadem]

Hello Tom and all,

My mother was born in 1922 and was left-handed. She was forced as a child to become (at best) right-handed by the simple expedient of tying her left hand behind her back until she used her right hand for preference, which she did all her life. Being left-handed was frowned upon and was probably even more so in the LVP for all sorts of superstitious and perhaps practical reasons. I think anyone then who was born left-handed would similarly have been forced to use their right hand, so it would have been difficult to tell whether they were lefties or not.


Best wishes,
C4

Hi Curious4 et, everyone,

I've read about this which practice which goes back to medieval times of forcing a left handed child to use his right hand. I think if would depend on if Montague parents were traditionalists or had religion as those were the households were this practice held the most sway as superstition held lefties to be possessed of the devil at the most extreme or sly and dubious at the very least, some folks were just of the opinion that to be right handed was better. Perhaps Druitt's parents might have made him use his right hand when he was a natural leftie.

Your Down At Heels Esquire
SE~

[curious4]

Lefties

Hi Curious4 et, everyone,

I've read about this which practice which goes back to medieval times of forcing a left handed child to use his right hand. I think if would depend on if Montague parents were traditionalists or had religion as those were the households were this practice held the most sway as superstition held lefties to be possessed of the devil at the most extreme or sly and dubious at the very least, some folks were just of the opinion that to be right handed was better. Perhaps Druitt's parents might have made him use his right hand when he was a natural leftie.

Your Down At Heels Esquire
SE~

Hello SE,

I have been lookinmg into this and it seems that children were punished for using their left hands at school (see Victorian Schools) and I also found a reference to the fact that no gentleman in the LVP would ever dream of using his left hand (lost the site, unfortunately, quite a few on being left-handed).

Druitt was undoubtably a gentleman, and as such it is very probable that he was discouraged from using his left hand.

Best wishes,
C4

While we are talking lefties, there is a photograph of Prince Eddy holding a fishing rod in his left hand, unless I am very much mistaken.

[curious4]

It's super easy to tie a tie and I've done this on numerous occasions (for some reason, in my early 20es I was wearing mens' ties on shirts for a little while, lol). For a right handed person, when tying a tie, the left hand holds it steady while the right hand wraps the tie around, slips the tie inside of the knot and tights it up, and in my personal experience as a righthanded person this makes the knot of the tie slipping a bit to the left. I don't know the Terry Lynch book, so no clue if Druitt's tie knot has slipped a bit to the right.

I agree with those who said that, were Druitt a "southpaw", it would have been a known and well-reported fact in the cricket press. In the surf/snow community/press it's well-known which surfer/snowbarder is “regular“ and which one is “goofy“. I'm "goofy" (leftfooted) and can recite a long list of surfers/snowboarders past and present who are "goofy" too.
As for cricketer Pieterson being famous for switching stance, it sounds like a much more rare occurrence than in snowboarding/wakeboarding, where it's expected that one rides "switch" at least 30% of the time and features jumps and tricks in "switch mode" frequently, so as to be taken seriously as a freestyler.

Hello Maria,

As being left-handed was not acceptable in the LVP, I very much doubt that he would have played with his left hand, and if he did this would most definitely not be commented on in the press.

Best wishes,
C4

[Bridewell]

Pressure to Conform

My mother, who was left-handed, always explained that it was easier for a right-handed person using a fountain pen, because the pen is pulled across the paper and the hand precedes it. For someone such as herself, the pen has to be pushed across the paper and the hand follows the pen, which creates the likelihood of smudging the wet ink.

It wasn't just in the LVP that left-handed writing was discouraged. When I started primary school in 1958 there was still pressure to write right-handed and, as I grew older, the desks all contained inkwells which were invariably positioned to the right - further pressure to conform.

Regards, Bridewell.

[mariab]

I can imagine that left-handed writing was discouraged in the Victorian era, but for sports too?

[Cogidubnus]

While we are talking lefties, there is a photograph of Prince Eddy holding a fishing rod in his left hand, unless I am very much mistaken.

I'm a right handed person, but when in my younger days I went fishing I always held the rod in my left hand, retaining the stronger and more certain right hand for managing the reel, nets etc

The exception was whe we went sea-fishing off a beach or pier and a stronger (usually two-handed) cast might be required - and even then, the rod would be returned to the left hand

All the best

Dave

[Fisherman]

Take it from me, Dave: you will find lefthanded people holding their rods in the right hand OR the left hand, and you will find righthanded fishermen holding their rods in their left OR right hand. Some lefties will hold a spinning rod in their right hand, since that enables them to handle the wheel with their left hand, whereas they prefer to hold a flyrod in their left hand, answering to the greater demands of precision when using this sort of equipment and using the right hand for the flywheel. Same thing goes for righthanded people - but vice versa.
Untangeling this business is almost harder than untangeling the Ripper riddle ...

The best,
Fisherman

[curious4]

lefties

As I remember PAV wasn't egaged in fishing at the time, just posing. And with the better part of a baby badger as a sporran if I remember correctly.

Cheers,
C4

[Cogidubnus]

you will find lefthanded people holding their rods in the right hand OR the left hand, and you will find righthanded fishermen holding their rods in their left OR right hand. Some lefties will hold a spinning rod in their right hand, since that enables them to handle the wheel with their left hand, whereas they prefer to hold a flyrod in their left hand, answering to the greater demands of precision when using this sort of equipment and using the right hand for the flywheel. Same thing goes for righthanded people - but vice versa.
Untangeling this business is almost harder than untangeling the Ripper riddle ...

I'm sure you're quite right (or left as the case may be) Fish!

Dave

[RavenDarkendale]

Hello Tom and all,

My mother was born in 1922 and was left-handed. She was forced as a child to become (at best) right-handed by the simple expedient of tying her left hand behind her back until she used her right hand for preference, which she did all her life. Being left-handed was frowned upon and was probably even more so in the LVP for all sorts of superstitious and perhaps practical reasons. I think anyone then who was born left-handed would similarly have been forced to use their right hand, so it would have been difficult to tell whether they were lefties or not.


Best wishes,
C4

This still happens and often causes severe stuttering since hand preference is a brain function. By forcing a lefty into using the right hand as dominate, the controlling hemisphere of the brain gets confused. So when my youngest son was born left handed, I learned to write, (not very well) with my left to help him learn to form his letters. I do have limited use of my left hand, from basketball and baseball or I might not have been able to write at all with my left hand.

[David Andersen]

This still happens and often causes severe stuttering since hand preference is a brain function. By forcing a lefty into using the right hand as dominate, the controlling hemisphere of the brain gets confused. So when my youngest son was born left handed, I learned to write, (not very well) with my left to help him learn to form his letters. I do have limited use of my left hand, from basketball and baseball or I might not have been able to write at all with my left hand.

It should be remembered that Montague Druitt was also a 'fives' player. It is a sport at which he excelled. It is played with both hands and the best players are ambidexterous.