20 January 2009
Tuesday Transcript: John Mortimer (1923-2009)
In an issue of the Australian Law Journal a few years ago ((2004) 78 ALJ 295 at 303), Justice Young passed on a story submitted by a reader, about an English judge. His Honour explained that the contribution
… depends on English accents in which the |æ| and |Λ| of Received Pronunciation have pulled in the direction of |a| under the influence of Cockney.
It turns out that the story was a favourite of Sir John Mortimer QC — creator of Rumpole of the Bailey — who regularly told it in speeches to charity dinners and as part of his recent stage show.
Of course, it’s not quite transcript, and it may never have happened. But I’ve selected it anyway because it seems appropriate to mark Mortimer’s passing and it was mentioned in The Guardian’s obituary.
The words of the story change with every telling, so I will go with the version Mortimer contributed to a book to raise funds for charity:
A judge at the end of a long trial, involving many witnesses and thousands of documents, came into court on Monday and said, “I’ve written out my judgement — 300 pages of it — but I’ve left it in my cottage in Wales and it can’t get to London in the post until tomorrow. So please, all of you go away and come back at 10.30 tomorrow, Tuesday, morning.”
At this a helpful barrister stood up and said, “Fax it up, my Lord.”
“Yes,” said the Judge. “It does, rather!”
He will be missed.
Related posts:
- Tuesday Transcript: Mutant Death and Justice Bell
- Tuesday Transcript: Hats off in court, please
- Tuesday Transcript: What’s that smell?
- Tuesday Transcript: Know Your Teabag
- Tuesday Transcript: Reality-based decision-making
