Four Stones for Montague Druitt
(for Voice, Viola, Autoharp and River)
A generative piece made of evolving tape loops by Michael Tanner.
with
Emma Morton - Vocals
Alison Cotton - Viola
"Since Friday I felt that I was going to be like mother, and the best thing for me was to die.”
The Druitt family name can be seen scattered around the town of Wimborne, going back over 200 years. Montague - the third child of William and Ann - was born in 1857 here in the town. As a young man he was a prodigy of sorts - a county-grade cricketer and career as a promising barrister lay ahead of him, though a sea-change in his life was afoot by the time he’d moved to the Inner Temple, London.
Supplementing his education by taking up a post of teacher in the Blackheath Boys School, there were allegations of Druitt falling in with a bad crowd and owing gambling debts - yet on the field of sport, his name remained untarnished. Rumours also began to grow of his possible homosexuality, a fact never verified to this date. What is certain is that on the 30th November 1888, Montague Druitt was dismissed from the Blackheath Boys school for reasons unclear. His local cricket club removed him as treasurer and secretary, claiming Druitt had ‘Gone abroad’.
Various theories have been put forward for the nature of Montague’s fall from grace - the answer to the mystery behind this stage of his life may lie in a pamphlet, never traced, which was later circulated by his cousin Lionel Druitt in Australia.
At some point, in or around the 4th of December, Montague placed heavy stones into his pockets and stepped from the bank into the Thames, somewhere near Chiswick. His body was not recovered for almost a month. Detectives found around £6,500 in his suit, a large sum, possibly the rest of his yearly wages from the school. A note left in his rooms addressed to his brother expressed concerns that, like their Mother and Grandmother before them, Montague was showing the first signs of hereditary mental health issues that had dogged the Druitts for generations. Yet even this note is speculation, paraphrased by William and disposed of soon after.
Druitt became something of a local celebrity when named by Assistant Chief Constable Melville Macnaghten as the figure behind the infamous Whitechapel Murders, Jack The Ripper. Macnaghten had not been involved in the case until a year after the murders, but would regularly drop hints as to the identity of the ‘sexually insane’ killer who’d taken his own life in 1888. Contemporary evidence seems to indicate that, given his stated involvement in certain cricket matches in various locations, it could not have been possible to travel from countryside to the Whitechapel and committed the killings. However, in personal correspondence, Macnaghten insisted Druitt was the guilty party, and moreover, that the belaeagured teachers own family also believed in his guilt. After retiring, Machnaghten claimed to have destroyed all documentation which named Druitt, including the apparent 'hard evidence' which linked him to the case.
My own personal relationship with the Druitt would be furthered every June, in the shape of the annual Wimborne folk festival. My favourite spot for both myself and friends to sit and watch proceedings would be under the large tree in Minster graveyard, amongst several of the resting spots of the Druitt family. Montague’s sad story would be wheeled out as cheap publicity in local papers, seemingly on a 5 year cycle, once again linking him to murders it was almost physically impossible for him to play a part in; even in death, his brief life has been indelibly stamped with the mark of violence, mutilation and murder.
Having now moved from Dorset, I find myself thinking of him often, and the circumstances that led to him taking his own life in the Thames. The lucidity required which, if his Brother’s words are true, Montague exerted in facing his own demons.
So here is a piece for Montague John Druitt. It’s comprised of viola, plucked autoharp, a hydrophone recording from the depths of the Thames and the words of Hildegard von Bingen, sung in latin:
"I recognised my ways were wicked
so I fled you
But now, you deceiver, I will fight you face to face
Queen humility, come with your medicine, give me aid”
Each of the four parts are cut to different lengths, meaning the piece will constantly shift and change form during the duration of its performance.
Michael Tanner 18/04/2016
credits
Emma Morton - Vocals
Alison Cotton - Viola
Michael Tanner - Autoharp, Loops
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