Counting My Chickens . . .: And Other Home Thoughts

by Deborah Mitford, Tom Stoppard (Introduction)

A unique window on an extraordinary life lived with tremendous zest, discrimination, and intelligence

The Duchess of Devonshire is the youngest of the Mitford siblings, the famous brood that includes the writers Nancy and Jessica. Like them, she has lived an unusually full and remarkable life, and like them she has an inimitable expressive gift. In Counting My Chickens, she has gathered extracts from her diaries and other writings to create a multifaceted portrait of her life at Chatsworth, the home of the Dukes of Devonshire, that is pithy, hilarious, wise, and always richly rewarding.

Under the Duchess's inspired supervision, Chatsworth has become one of England's most frequently visited great houses, welcoming over 400,000 visitors a year. The Duchess reveals what it takes to keep such an establishment alive and prospering, tells of transporting a goat by train from the Scottish island of Mull to London, discusses having her portrait painted by Lucian Freud, and provides rich reminisces of growing up a Mitford--along with telling anecdotes about friends from Evelyn Waugh to John F. Kennedy. From Tom Stoppard's adoring Introduction to the author's meditation on the beauty of Elvis Presley's voice, COUNTING MY CHICKENS offers continuous surprise and delight.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Biography Memoir, British Literature, Autobiography, 20th Century

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, who published under the name of Deborah Mitford, was brought up in Oxfordshire, England. In 1950 her husband, Andrew, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, inherited extensive estates in Yorkshire and Ireland as well as Chatsworth, the family seat in Derbyshire, and Deborah became chatelaine of one of England’s great houses. She is the author of All in One Basket, Wait for Me!, Counting My Chickens and Home to Roost, among other books, and her letters have been collected in The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters and In Tearing Haste: The Correspondence of the Duchess of Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor. Following her husband’s death in 2004, she moved to a village on the Chatsworth estate.

Note: The author's name on her books varies from Duchess of Devonshire (most common), to Deborah Devonshire, Deborah Cavendish and Deborah Mitford.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, like all Deborah Mitford's books is about her life as Duchess of Devonshire. They don't have enough money to keep the house going so they sell off Old Masters, open farm shops and give guided tours of the house. The house, Chatsworth, and grounds were run as a major business operation employing hundreds of people and she was very much the CEO (but also really did feed the chickens). She's an amusing writer and the book was a good read
___________

Should we change George Orwell books to Eric Blair? What about Richard Bachman for Stephen King. Would you recognise François‐Marie Arouet as Voltaire? Shall we leave all the Dr. Seuss books as Dr. Seuss but change the author on GR to Theodor Geisel. No, right?

But some librarian has changed Deborah Mitford's name to Deborah Cavendish saying that her real name is Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish with a somewhat pompous note. So? Not even her husband used that name, but was simply Andrew Devonshire. So I was looking for this book today, I had reviewed it in the past but it has disappeared and I don't even know when I read it.... I wonder if it was due to the librarian name changing and combining? It wouldn't be the first time.

I am sure the librarian will change it back to Deborah Cavendish although not a single book she wrote has that name on the cover. Then if I go to the super-librarian to end all super-librarians I will (metaphorically) get my ear bitten off because I am too contentious and not one of the inner circle of librarians.

Gee if I ran my bookshop with the sang-froid of some of the librarians here.... never mind. Not a good thought.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous read

[ΑνναΦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

La biografia vera e propria la leggerò in seguito, qui trattasi di pensieri, varie strisce apparse su vari quotidiani, commenti su argomenti obbligati per una signora agée del suo ceto sociale (giardini, libri, il suo famoso castello, qualche amico famoso) e altri più personali, soprattutto le sue amatissime galline. La passione avicola risale all'infanzia, quando la famiglia Mitford - essendo la Duchessa l'ultima della variegata e stramba famiglia - si prendeva cura di un vasto pollaio, avendone fatto una fonte sicura di sostentamento, o comunque un mezzo per permettersi una governante. Da queste brevi note si rileva una penna abbastanza gradevole, sfiorata appena da un lievissimo snobismo, non paragonabile comunque alle altre due sorelle più dotate. Vedremo la da poco deceduta Duchessa, che prova di scrittura darà nella autobiografia (noblesse oblige).

[David Chadwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first part of the book was quite hard going.
The second part when it involved the Chatsworth estate and friends, the book got more interesting.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second favorite Mitford sister.

[Lisa Brook · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pleasant enough short diversion left out for visitors to the cottage we are holidaying in very close to Chatsworth (signed by the author too which was quite fun). Slightly too long for the very lightweight material but lots of entertaining anecdotes. The 1939 trip from an island off of Mull to London avec Labrador, whippet and goat is a treat. Loved the intro from Tom Stoppard too and his confession of being late for dinner at Chatsworth due to a timing clash with the evening trout rise too!

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories do have repetitive elements and I will admit to not feeling it essential to finish right down to the last page.

Nevertheless the author was present at interesting moments in history. If you read this for no other reason do so because you get a first person view of JFK's inauguration and then his funeral. Fascinating.

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darling Debo! So charming, so funny, so snobbish and hateful about parts of the modern world which don't fit into her beliefs. I enjoyed a lot of it very much while reading but there is not anything here that is going to stick with me -- something I am confident of, as apparently I read it the year before my daughter was born and yet remembered nothing!

[Renata · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming and interesting read .
I love the author’s sense of humour and sharp wit .
My favorites were her childhood memories and the visitors’ observations of farming, etc .
A glimpse into a world we often think of as stuffy and possibly unapproachable - she easily draws the curtain back and becomes someone you feel you’ve known a long time .

[Bonjwing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t understand how anyone could rate this book below 5 stars. The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire possessed that kind of punchy wit and pragmatism that only accrued among the wartime British; truly a bygone alchemy of circumstance and language.

[Ramona Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like having a chat with someone who happens to be a Duchess. She has a pleasant way of writing as if she were sending you a personal letter between good friends. I want to find out more!

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing lecture

Very hilarius and humble writing about miscelaneus themes ocurring of life at chatsworth. A snapshot of the life of debo the duchess.

[Kathy E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into Deborah’s life - what a character!

[Ruth D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brain candy. Funny at times. Good to read when you don't really have the energy to follow a story line.

[Fortytwo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Z

[jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fun read! I'd love to meet the Dutchess and see these places!

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questa raccolta è una lettura un po' particolare, non il genere di libro in cui si incappa per caso, ma più che altro un libro a cui si arriva con precisione seguendo un determinato cammino. Nel mio caso, tutto parte dalle sorelle Mitford. Si tratta di sei sorelle (in realtà c'era anche un fratello, ma non fa molto testo evidentemente), appartenenti ad una famiglia aristocratica inglese, che furono molto famose negli anni Trenta e Quaranta dello scorso secolo, in parte per le loro scelte politiche, in parte per i loro matrimoni. In realtà alcune di loro condussero delle vite defilate, come è il caso di Deborah Devonshire, la più giovane delle sorelle e l'unica ancora in vita.

Deborah sposò il figlio cadetto del duca di Devonshire, lord Andrew Cavendish. Alla morte del fratello maggiore, però, Andrew divenne l'erede del ducato. Con la morte del padre divenne proprietario della grande tenuta di Chatsworth. Deborah in particolare si adoperò per rendere possibile il restauro della casa e dei giardini promuovendo la tenuta e iniziando alcune attività commerciali.

Counting My Chickens è una raccolta di brevi saggi già pubblicati da Deborah Devonshire (su riviste, immagino, anche se non è specificato nella mia edizione). Le tematiche sono le più svariate: ricordi familiari (sia della sua vita da sposata che prima), riflessioni su argomenti come la caccia ma anche la costruzione di muri e gli scippi (e da qui al contenuto delle borse femminili), Chatsworth, le amicizie, i libri e ancora altro. Deborah Devonshire ha una voce umoristica e asciutta e senza grandi proclami dice chiaramente quello che pensa anche se la sua non è precisamente un'opinione politicamente corretta. Informata però sì, infatti si può dire che l'aristocrazia inglese emerge dai suoi scritti come una classe che prende seriamente le proprie responsabilità e mette direttamente le mani in pasta e Deborah Devonshire conosce molto bene Chatsworth e la tenuta, e chiaramente tutti i lavori necessaria per mantenerla.

E' delizioso leggere alcuni aneddoti: il racconto di come il padre inseguiva le figlie con il cane da caccia (per gioco, ovvio), le riflessioni sui libri (che Deborah legge poco perché non sopporta di finire un libro), il trasporto di una capra dall'isola di Mull a Londra. Altri però sono poco comprensibili per chi, come me, ha una conoscenza molto approssimativa della famiglia Mitford e decisamente scarsa della situazione politica dell'epoca. In ogni caso trovo che delle introduzioni con un po' di contesto o anche solo delle note, avrebbero decisamente giovato alla raccolta. Da rileggere sicuramente, quando avrò letto anche le memorie della Duchessa.

http://robertabookshelf.blogspot.it/2...

[False · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the author her sisters Nancy and Jessica were. The book is a rich lady's indulgence. Snippets and thoughts of her past in the country in the inherited manse and past friends. She can talk with ease about hoof and mouth disease, turnips, tree mashing machines and hen breeds. The two most interesting "bits" for me (and I have read about the Mitfords extensively,) were when she talked about the old family church and her grandmother.

"In church at Edensor, while the glorious language of the 1662 prayer book, with it's messages of mystery and imagination, fills the air, I find my mind wandering back to the Oxfordshire churches of my childhood, first at Asthall and then at Swinbrook, where the same language was spoken in different surroundings.

Both St. Mary's Swinbrook and St Peter's Edensor have seventeenth century memorials which are worth going a long way to see. At Swinbrook, they commemorate two generations of the Fettiplace family, who owned the surrounding land till the male line died out in the nineteenth century. The subjects, who are weighed down by stone armour and lie stiffly on their sides, are of about the same date and as arrestingly beautiful as the memorial to Bess of Hardwick's Cavendish sons in Edensor church.

The feel, smell, and taste of the oak pews at Swinbrook (I suppose that all children lick pews under cover of praying for their guinea pigs) are not the same as those at Edensor. They were put in by my father, who paid for them with the money he won by backing a long-priced Grand National winner owned by a cousin. He wanted a horse's head carved on the end of each one, but the bishop would not allow such frivolity, which was hypocritical of him, as I am sure he knew the source of my father's bounty perfectly well.

Sixty-six years ago, my sister Diana, aged fourteen, played the organ at Asthall. She thought any tune would do for the voluntary as long as it was played slowly enough. "Tea for Two" was repeated again and again, unrecognized (or so she says) while the congregation waited for the moment when the Venite was sung to more predictable music."

"We have come a long way since Granny went round Hardwick with a little mallet, banging the furniture to give concussion to the wormwood."

I'll close with sheep diseases: Sturfy, bleb, turnstick, paterish, goggles, dunt and pendro all are gid.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deborah Devonshire – born in 1920 – was the youngest of the mad bad Mitford sisters. She married Andrew Cavendish who at the time wasn’t the heir – but upon his brother tragic death became the heir to the Devonshire Dukedom in Derbyshire. The duchess has worked tirelessly to make Chatsworth what it is today, work she has been passionate about, one wonders what might have happened to Chatsworth if not for Debo.
I have read a lot of books about the Mitford sisters or by one of the Mitford sisters. I am in fact a little bit addicted to The Mitfords. The fact that one of them is still alive in 2012 delights me. I have never been to Chatsworth though – and I have no idea why – when I read Deborah Devonshire’s book ‘Wait for Me” last year I remember thinking I must get to Chatsworth – and I still haven’t. Maybe this year will be the year I arrange a day out there.
‘Counting my Chickens’ is a charming little book full of Debo’s observations of life, her affectionate portraits of some old friends – such as Patrick Leigh Fermor and James Less-Milne, and descriptions of her life and work at Chatsworth. She is often scathing about such people as Mr Blair – and those against fox hunting or who don’t understand the ways of the countryside. The duchess though has a sharp wit and this brings some real personality to her writing. Towards the end of this slim little volume is a piece entitles Road from the isles – in which Debo describes a journey from Inchkenneth off the cost of Mull, to London in 1939, that she took accompanied by two dogs and a goat she had been given by her mother. Hilarious stuff – and only could it have been a Mitford that undertook such a journey.

[^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful assortment of articles, all beautifully (as expected) written.

The impact of Foot and Mouth restrictions (in 2001), where even Radio 2 is turned off in the lambing sheds … the challenge of opening modern packaging … the guilt induced by the reading of The National Trust Manual of Housekeeping (Stainton & Sandwith): the NT has never needed to concern itself about white mice, canaries, and games of Sardines.

The visiting head teacher (from an urban school, one presumes), who asks why the Chatsworth forester doesn’t let the trees die naturally before harvesting them, and who is clearly surprised that a mechanical tree harvester is employed rather than hand-felling by axe!

This is the perfect bedside book; though, regretfully, I’d advise removing it from the reach of any potentially untrustworthy guest.

Just one gripe: Why, O why, is there no index?

[Iva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't get enough of those Mitfords? Then this is the book for you. Debo (Duchess of Devonshire) shares priceless musings, stories and observations. Some are columns from diverse periodicals--can you get more diverse than The Sunday Times and the British Goat Society Yearbook? What does she write about? Obviously there are some charming goats, but also books, literary and other friends, her "stately" home, which has over 400,000 visitors a year and of course, her family anecdotes are sprinkled throughout. Tom Stoppard's introduction is a model of worship and restraint. A little gem of a book-- the Duchess is so British and so wise.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an easy--to-read little book by an exceptional lady. Deborah, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire (the youngest of the Mitford sisters)has told, within these covers, some interesting anecdotes from her life and that of Chatsworth, her husbands ancestral home. A good mix of fact,with humour and sadness all brought together charmingly by a lady who admits to being largely uneducated due to her fathers disapproval of education for girls.
Reading this book has whetted my appetite to read more of her memoirs and also to reclaim my copy of 'Letters between Six Sisters' that I have lent to a friend without having read it myself.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had this on my shelf and it called to me. I am trying to get through "Beatlebone" which is not very interesting, but this book about country fairs and gardening and raising chickens rings true for me. Enjoying it very much and I will be finished in no time.

Harold MacMillan was family to the Duchess of Devonshire, and he had an interesting and complicated life. She alludes to it a bit. I need to get a biography of this Prime Minister in my list. DONE

She recommends a group of books at the end of the book, mostly books written by friends. Some of them sound pretty good. Will investigate.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightful musings from the youngest of the famous Mitford girls, Debo, the Duchess of Devonshire. It's a pithy collection of scraps of her writing, about this-and-that, flowers, friends, books, and her estate, Chatsworth (the house from all the Jane Austen adaptations). I learned that there is - believe it or not - a society in Britain for wall building. And they have tournaments, with prizes for the best wall. (Only in England.) This small volume, with a forward by Tom Stoppard, only propels my enjoyment of all things Mitford. Onto to "Hons and Rebels..."

[Hazel McHaffie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've visited Chatsworth this slim volume of reflections by the now Dowager Duchess is well worth reading. She writes with flair and humour about everything from her rebellion against petty rules on health and safety to her limited reading, her love of clothes from agricultural shows to her childhood habit of tasting church pews. She's been instrumental in making Chatsworth one of the country's leading historic homes with a world famous farmyard and farm shop but she sounds entirely unpretentious and a delight to listen to.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, do I love reading about this family of eccentric daughters. I thought she was probably the most sensible of the sisters, but I withdraw most of that idea. She is upper-class, has humorous opinions and observations while loaded with her gift of erudite charm. She is wonderful to read! I wonder what her children are like. Did she raise them to be hunted by hounds like her father did with his children?

[Katharine Holden · Rating 1 out of 5]

A vanity press sort of book of reflections and scraps. If she weren't a Mitford, no publisher would have touched it. She doesn't really have anything interesting to say but talks a lot anyway. I think she means to slay certain groups of people with her wit (feminists, persons concerned for animal welfare, visitors to her stately home who dare to send her letters of complaint about conditions, etc.), but her writing lacks the wit to slay them. A silly book.

[Barendx van den Bergh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me by the lovely Lady Auriol Linlithgow as a Xmas gift in 2002. I was working for the Lady on her exquisitely beautiful country house Bryngwyn. Xmas was always so festive, but that's another story.... Yes this was bit difficult to understand as it is written from the Duchess life experiences, so there where times were I had to read to story again, well yes then I understood it a bit better. And YES the book is even signed by the Duchess......x

[Skyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

vignettes from a privileged life. The book contains one of my favourite gardening quotations: "People go through five stages of gardening. They begin by liking flowers, progress to flowering shrubs, then autumn foliage and berries; next they go for leaves, and then the undersides of leaves."
It's not four stars for being brilliantly written. The four stars in my reviews do just mean I really liked it.

[Kealani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely chatty visit with the Duchess of Devonshire. A cousin of Winston Churchill, she's taken tea with Hitler and has tendril ties by marriages to JFK. Deborah Freeman-Mitford, a fulcrum for most twentieth century history charms, out-masters, and delivers. Do take a few moments to get to know her, do.