On August 22nd 1933 I married Arthur Cecil Roper (“Doc”). He was the brother of
a college friend of mine, and when she first introduced us in 1920 our dislike
of each other was instant, mutual and intense. Many years later I learned that
he had told her not to bring "That tow - headed chatterer” (me) near him” and to
myself I always though of him as “that great, rough bear”. We lost sight of each
other for the next nine or ten years, but when we eventually met once more, it
was another three years before we realised that we were right for each other and
have now been blessed with 42 years of superbly happy life. We have no children.
Doc was born 14th June 1890 , and comes of a very old and interesting family.
His Father was cousin of Lord Teynham, and was for many years heir to the title
and estates. When at last an heir in the direct line was born, he relinquished
his heritage with the utmost relief. The name Musard was the original name of
the family, and from this is derived the name Miserden, a village on the
Cotswolds. In the grounds of Miserden House is a very large mound which
obviously covers the original castle, for on a visit there we found roofing
stones amid the grass and leaf mound at the top of the mound. An ancestor at the
time of William Rufus must have been a most ferocious swashbuckler, for he
gained the soubriquet of “de Rubra Spatha” (of the red sword). The name
Roper is derived from this. The spatha is the huge double-handed sword, as
distinct from the Gladius which was the short sword normally worn on the hip.
One of the same family married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas (now Saint)
More, who wrote the life of More. The name Roper has nothing to do with ropes or
rope-making. The name Musard means “the Dreamer”, and Doc has inherited these
genes, for he is a prolific and most unusually interesting dreamer.
1950