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Nothing to do with anything


RichardB

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Now't to do with Sheffield, or, for that matter anything ...

Find the link between the man that looked up the stairs from the hold of the ship that brought Dracula to England (the one that ate flies and insects and said "Master") and Alice Cooper (yes, the mascara wearing loony 70's pop/rocker).

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They named themselves The Earwigs, they dressed up like The Beatles and soon renamed themselves The Spiders.

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Nothing to do with RichardB's question, but brought me to do a search for an illustration i have, The Spiders Nightmare,

and found it's creator as,

Oliver Brooke Herford (1863 - 1935)

Oliver Brooke Herford was born in Sheffield, England on December 1, 1863, son of Reverend Brooke and Hannah Herford. He was an author, illustrator, cartoonist, comedian, and poet. He was the third son born, and also had six sisters. Herford had many artists in his family. His grandmother, who was mainly a farmer, had some ability in writing and drawing, and taught at a school for girls in Altrincham, which was about eight miles from Manchester where the Herford's lived. Oliver's father was a well-known Unitarian minister, editor, and writer. His uncle, William Henry, was also a Unitarian minister and was famous for his works on educational subjects.

When Oliver Herford was almost twelve years old, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois so that his father could accept a call to the Church of the Messiah. They stayed in Chicago for about seven years, and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where his father would become the pastor of the Arlington Street Church. He served this church for ten years, and then returned to England. Oliver attended school in Lancaster, England until he was enrolled in Antioch College, Ohio in 1877. Soon he wanted training in art, and after studying in Chicago and Boston, he attended Slade School in London and then studied at Julian's in Paris.

Oliver then returned to the United States, and lived in New York City at 142 East Eighteenth Street for the next thirty years. His home was not far from the Player's Club, of which he became a member and often displayed his ability in comedy. He married Margaret Regan on May 26, 1904, who was born in Manchester England. She had attended a convent school and moved to the United States to appear in a convent play. She was also a writer in light verse and had worked with Oliver Herford before their marriage.

Oliver was a very modest, shy person, and his friends sometimes called him "Elf", "Peter Pan", or "Ariel". He was said to have always seen a humorous side in anything said or done, and his thoughts were "swift and shrewd". His choice of words was short and simple, like his description of a pest, "a man who can talk like an encyclopedia, and does." Many of his sayings are in dictionaries of similes and quotations. He was a master of both writing and illustration, especially of young women, children, and animals, which were said to be his best topic.

The New York Times summed him up by calling him "intelligent, and well-bred what with his animals and his children and his artistic simplicities he was remote from the style of the best moderns. No violence, or obscenity, not even obscurity or that long windedness which is the signet of the illustration writers today. " Oliver Herford died at the age of seventy-two July 5, 1935. His funeral was held in St. George's Episcopal Church, and his wife died the following December.

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They named themselves The Earwigs, they dressed up like The Beatles and soon renamed themselves The Spiders.

They recorded "Earwings to Eternity" and "Titanic Overture" - dreadful, went on to produce some perfect pop/rock; but where is the Dracula link ?

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Born 1860, he's four months old in the 1861 Census, son of a Unitarian Minister, Brinkcliffe Bank.

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everything connects...

from the Dictionary of National Biography entry for Oliver 's father, Brooke Herford:

"In January 1856 Herford became minister at Upper Chapel, Sheffield. The success of his ministry there was in part based upon his intelligent sympathy with the working classes; his lecture in 1861 to a chapel crowded with working men, entitled ‘Trade outrages’, was a striking example of plain and bold speaking. He did much missionary work here too, in Sheffield (leading to the formation of the Upperthorpe congregation) and Rotherham, and in Yorkshire and Derbyshire villages."

Hugh

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I like one of Herford's quotes,

A womans mind is cleaner than a mans, she changes it more often.

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And back to the question that i hijacked :rolleyes: could it be "Renfield"

I hope the prize isn't fried spiderlings.

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And back to the question that i hijacked :rolleyes: could it be "Renfield"

I hope the prize isn't fried spiderlings.

Exceptionally close, you have the right man, however, that is his character, you need the actors name then to match that to a song by one Mr Cooper (its on one of the early albums, circa 1971)

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Exceptionally close, you have the right man, however, that is his character, you need the actors name then to match that to a song by one Mr Cooper (its on one of the early albums, circa 1971)

so that would be

Ballad of Dwight Fry

Hugh

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Guest tsavo

Just to complete the one missing bit of info, the Russian ship was called The Dementer.

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