Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

the Hon. George Hysteron-Proteron CB (c. 1874–1942) is a fictional character created by the author J. K. Stanford. A

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

soldier,

sporting gun ''Sporting Gun'' is a leading monthly sporting publication covering game and clay shooting. It is published by Future plc Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 br ...

, and

Lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

of Five Mile Wallop,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

, in his

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

home, the Qu'hais'

Club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, he was known as the Old Grouse-Cock, J. K. Stanford, ''The Twelfth and After'' (), p. 11 and he is most notable for his adventures after he wakes up on the morning of the Twelfth of August and finds he has turned into a grouse. He has been described as "a comic figure of sporting literature" and a "fanatical

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

shot".Charles Clover,
Why old soldier aims best shot at hunt Bill
' dated 19 June 2001, from telegraph.co.uk

Origin and creation

Hysteron-Proteron's creator J. K. Stanford wrote in 1964 that "George... owed his origin to a face in the East India Club... On one occasion at breakfast he sent for the waiter and said, in my hearing, 'Didn't I order mutton cutlets ''with blood''? There's no blood in these! Take them away!' "''Authors Note'' prefacing ''The Twelfth and After'', pp. 7-8 The character first appeared in Stanford's first book, ''The Twelfth'' (1944), which was revised in 1964 as ''The Twelfth and After: being the life and death of George Hysteron-Proteron''. The original book, ''The Twelfth'', was written between 1942 and 1943 in the North African desert, while the author was serving with the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces ...

between El Alamein and

Gabès Gabès (, ; ar, قابس, ), also spelled Cabès, Cabes, Kabes, Gabbs and Gaps, is the capital city of the Gabès Governorate in Tunisia. It is located on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès. With a population of 152,921, Gabès is the 6th largest ...

.The Twelfth and After: Being the Life and Death of George Hysteron-Proteron
at biggerbooks.com, accessed 19 November 2008 A member of

Boodle's Boodle's is a London gentlemen's club, founded in January 1762, at No. 50 Pall Mall, London, by Lord Shelburne, the future Marquess of Lansdowne and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. History The club was originally based next door to Wi ...

wrote after receiving the book as a Christmas present in 1944: "I see the author mentions Boodle's. I don't know if he is a member here but there are six George Proterons sitting round me in the smoking-room at the moment." The character's surname clearly originates in the term

hysteron proteron The hysteron proteron (from the el, ὕστερον πρότερον, ''hýsteron próteron'', "later earlier") is a rhetorical device. It occurs when the first key word of the idea refers to something that happens temporally later than the second ...

, a rhetorical device.

Early life

While still in the cot, Hysteron-Proteron shot his

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

in the backside with a pea-shooter. As he grew older, she insisted that he would never see heaven, and in due course he was educated at Eton, the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, "and the

Badminton Library The ''Badminton Library'', called in full ''The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes'', was a sporting and publishing project conceived by Longmans Green & Co. and edited by Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort (1824–1899). Between 1885 a ...

".''The Twelfth and After'', p. 12

Military career

He fought with the Black Scots regiment in

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

and the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

and in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, which he ended in 1918 as a Billeting Officer.

Sportsman

Hysteron-Proteron was said to be "one of the ten or twelve best shots in the

kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

". He kept "a most elaborate game book" (that is, a detailed record of everything he killed) which in 1938 was in its twentieth volume.''The Twelfth and After'', p. 15 He had then shot "about 200,000 head".

Family

Hysteron-Proteron was a younger son of Lord Parable, while his mother was "a Fleuchary of Brawl, in north Sutherland". His half-brother William Proteron was a

Master of Foxhounds Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

, but the two men did not speak to each other for thirty years, this being in connection with their rivalry to inherit the fortune of "a very rich but invalid Hysteron aunt in Suffolk", who when she died left her money equally between the

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...

and the Society for the Abolition of Bloodsports. Hysteron-Proteron's first cousin Randolph Hysteron was a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

whose "incredibly modern novels" included ''What the Hell does it matter?'' and ''God will call it Quits''. His heroes were "lonely and apt to hang round brothels", and Hysteron-Proteron read his books. Hysteron-Proteron never married, and his heir was a nephew, said in 1938 to be "in quod at this moment for dangerous driving on the Kingston By-pass".

Religion

Until his final four years, Hysteron-Proteron's attendance at church was spasmodic, Sunday being his morning for going round his nests and rearing-field with the estate's head keeper, after his Friday and Saturday sport. However, after giving up shooting in 1938, he would often put on a dark blue suit, stiff white collar, spats, and

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

and attend church parade in the family

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

. Hysteron-Proteron found the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

s ominous, and once asked the

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

to lend him some books on the

After-life The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

, explaining "When I was a boy, it was just plain heaven and hell, and me nurse always insisted I should never see the first. ''You'' know what I mean: what are we in for?" He went on to explain his fears of milling around with the

Cherubim A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

: "I dislike crowds... I can't stand community singin'! All that harpin' and allelujerin' and celestial choirs. Frightens me... frightful glare there must be off the golden pavements. Don't like the prospect, meself!" He found the Vicar astonishingly ill-informed and uneasy.

Life as a bird

J. K. Stanford's ''The Twelfth and After'' is largely the account of Hysteron-Proteron's adventures in the shape of a red grouse, a form in which he wakes up, as he nears the end of his shooting career, on the morning of the Twelfth of August. Finding himself as a grouse on a grouse moor as the season begins, Hysteron-Proteron is of course able to use his life-time of experience as a game shot to escape death at the hands of his shooting friends. Indeed, he goes so far as to organize his fellow grouse to outwit the guns. To his great relief, he survives the grouse season and eventually returns to human form. He then gives up shooting and turns his energy to gardening instead.

Honours and clubs

Hysteron-Proteron was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1918, for military services. After he retired from shooting he became Patron and President of the Five Mile Wallop Horticultural Society.''The Twelfth and After'', p. 111 He was a member of the Qu'hais' Club and

Notes

External links

The Twelfth and after
at isbndb.com
The Twelfth and after being the life and death of George Hysteron-Proteron
at openlibrary.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Hysteron-Proteron, George Characters in British novels of the 20th century Fictional colonels Fictional hunters Fictional people educated at Eton College Fictional therianthropes Literary characters introduced in 1944