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I visited Fleming's Grave


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#1 Thunderbird

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 03:56 PM

I recently took a detour on the way to visit friends in Oxford and swung by Ian Fleming's final resting place. It is strangely unassuming for someone who had such an impact on modern life.

Fleming is buried in the village of Sevenhampton, a few miles off the A420, near Swindon, Wiltshire, England. His last house, Sevenhampton Place, is there, though he had hardly moved in when he died. His wife Ann (who died in 1981), is buried there along with his son Caspar, who died of a drug overdose in his early 20s in 1975 after a troubled childhood in the shadow of his famous father.

It is a small village church and the Fleming grave is a simple obelisk around four feet high. There is no reference to Fleming's famous creation anywhere, the plaque simply reads, 'Ian Fleming, 1908-1964' and a Latin motto. His middle name, 'Lancaster', is missing.

I forgot to write down the latin motto, but from a photo on the web I think I can make out:

omnia perfuncius vitae premia marcus

My Latin in non-existent so can anyone help here - I know that some of the letters might be wrong.

Thought I would share this with you all anyway.

#2 Jim

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 04:41 PM

Agreed; there isn't much to see.

That said, Churchill's grave 20 miles up the road isn't much either.

#3 Thunderbird

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 05:32 PM

That's at Islip isn't it?

#4 Bryce (003)

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 06:00 PM

Very cool Thunderbird.

I paid my respects back in '96. It is a very unassuming resting place.

I remember standing there in the rain, and I couldn't think of anything to say. My girlfriend (at the time) finally offered a great momento.

"Why don't you leave him a cigarette?"

Brilliant!

I extracted a Dunhill mild from my case, lit it, and placed it - butt first - just to the left of the headstone and said "sorry it doesn't have the three gold bands."

I then added "Thanks for enriching my life."

and with that, my Moneypenny and I dodged the drops of rain as best we could and found a quaint pub with a warm fire and some cold pints.

What a great day it was.

*Bryce glances upward*

"Thanks Ian!"

#5 Loomis

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 06:16 PM

Great story, Bryce. Perhaps a whole bunch of us should pay a visit during the International Meetup in 2004 (and ultimately repair to the pub you mentioned).

#6 Bryce (003)

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 06:39 PM

A visit to Fleming's grave has already been "discussed" by Dan, Jordan & I.

and yes, the pub.....I hope they're ready for a TON of martini's.

#7 Thunderbird

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 07:55 PM

Hey, Bryce, thanks for the reply. I too smoked a Marlboro Light (one gold band) in the presence of my hero. In fact I'm off up that way again this Sunday, I might just call by and drop him a couple off...perhaps go the whole way and pour a bourbon and branch water over him too...

#8 marktmurphy

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 07:59 PM

Reminds me of those people who go to Tolkien's grave to carry out elvish ceremonies. Its all terribly distasteful and a little unpleasant. You get the feeling he might want to tell them to **** off.

#9 Spectre001

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 08:11 PM

Originally posted by Loomis
Great story, Bryce. Perhaps a whole bunch of us should pay a visit during the International Meetup in 2004 (and ultimately repair to the pub you mentioned).


Ditto - That is a great story Bryce!

#10 Thunderbird

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 08:14 PM

Oh, you never know, once you get the pixie ears and 'horns' on you might feel differently...

Anyway what's distasteful about visiting someone's grave...bearing in mind I was joking about the fags and whisky...? Now you mention it though, I could drink it then kind of, er, recycle it...actually no, maybe not the most respectful thing in the world.

#11 Loomis

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 08:17 PM

Perhaps we could perform some sort of LIVE AND LET DIE-style voodoo ceremony to try and raise the old boy from the dead, or at least take ouija boards along to find out what he thinks of DIE ANOTHER DAY, and whether he feels Dalton did indeed give the most faithful interpretation of Bond.

#12 Thunderbird

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 08:27 PM

Well if you believe the hype then Ian's brother Peter had dictated to him a story from...*que spooky music/echo voice*...beyond the grave!

#13 Thunderbird

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 08:29 PM

So, who's going to translate this Latin for me then?

#14 Loomis

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 08:49 PM

My Latin's not what it was, Thunderbird, but maybe there are some sites that translate from Latin, along the lines of Alta Vista's Babel Fish. Total accuracy is unlikely, but it might be good for a giggle....

#15 Thunderbird

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Posted 31 October 2002 - 09:16 PM

Originally posted by Loomis
Great story, Bryce. Perhaps a whole bunch of us should pay a visit during the International Meetup in 2004 (and ultimately repair to the pub you mentioned).


What's this in 2004?

#16 Loomis

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Posted 01 November 2002 - 12:13 AM

Go to "forums index", scroll down, and you'll see a section called "Misc". Go into the International Meetup forum (it's next to General Discussion).

The Meetup is a planned meeting of CBn users who'd be interested in spending a few days together to discuss Bond and hold various events.

It's been decided to hold the event in 2004, mainly to allow plenty of time for the event to be planned and for people to save money and organise time off. It will definitely be in the UK, mostly in (and around?) London. Other than that, nothing has been decided, and the monumental task of planning it is still ahead.

The most important thing is that as many of us as possible who would be interested in taking part start e-mailing either each other or the forum on this site (or both), so any suggestions for things to do or points to bear in mind would be welcome.

#17 Bryce (003)

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Posted 01 November 2002 - 01:11 AM

Monumental is accurate, but as I've tossed my hat on the rack with Dan and Jordan, we will pull it off.

Ideally, 20 years from now, people will still be posting talking about the "Event back in '04";)

#18 Blue Eyes

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Posted 01 November 2002 - 05:28 AM

No they won't Byrce, they'll be talking about that "First even back on '04" :)

#19 Bryce (003)

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Posted 01 November 2002 - 05:41 AM

Originally posted by Thunderbird ....In fact I'm off up that way again this Sunday, I might just call by and drop him a couple off...perhaps go the whole way and pour a bourbon and branch water over him too...


Right on TB! Although, I'd suggest either a single-malt and branch water or a martini..

Please, if you do visit, give the man my respects...and apologize for me not leaving him a smoke sooner;) and I'll be there in'04.

and yes Dan, they will be talking about the "first one";)

#20 Loomis

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Posted 01 November 2002 - 12:51 PM

Originally posted by Blue Eyes
No they won't Byrce, they'll be talking about that "First even back on '04" :)


And by then, there'll be the Seven Digit Club!

#21 Blue Eyes

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Posted 02 November 2002 - 07:46 AM

I'm fast approaching the FDC! Five Digit Club! But yes you're right, eventually we'll start having squared signs and all! :)

#22 Honey Rider

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Posted 03 November 2002 - 08:08 PM

Great idea about going to that pub and order a Martini (or more) each...
I'd like mine well shaken, poured into a deep champagneglass, a big but thin slice of lemonshell, with Kina Lillet Vermouth -
and you can go on and on like that...see you lot in '04.

#23 stromberg

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Posted 05 November 2002 - 11:16 AM

The idea about the pub sounds great, yes (like almost any idea about visiting a pub), but can you imagine a whole busload or two of bondfans invading the cemetery to visit the grave? I'm sure the man himself wouldn't like this.

I remember visiting Jim Morrison's grave on the 20th aniversary of his death in '91, that was absolute mayhem (okay, that's a different kind of fans, but masses of people are all the same).

IMHO this is something more personal that should be done alone or together with two or three people but not in a kind of mass event with people behaving like a bunch of Japanese tourists in Paris. (no offense to Japanese tourists intended).

Tried to find a picture of of the gravesite at www.findagrave.com, but unfortunately they haven't any. For the latin translation, I tried to find a site with a latin translation service. Didn't find any, but I'll stick with it and do my best to find out.

#24 Thunderbird

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Posted 05 November 2002 - 05:04 PM

Look here:http://www.oodwooc.f...Sevenhpc020.jpg

#25 stromberg

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Posted 05 November 2002 - 08:52 PM

Thanks for the pic, T-Bird.

That helped a lot: The correct motto is "omnia perfunctus vitai praemia marces" (it is misspelled on that plate, too) and it is from Lucretius' 'de rerum naturae' (On the nature of things), 3rd book, line 956 (http://www.fh-augsbu...s/luc_rer3.html)

I couldn't manage to translate it (I don't know that much latin), but I did send out some of my spies, maybe one of them can help. But I have to wait until tomorrow.

#26 Thunderbird

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Posted 05 November 2002 - 10:21 PM

Thanks Strom, keep me posted. I know enough public schoolboys I should be able to get it translated myself, but they've all forgotten all thew knew about latin.

Good luck.

#27 stromberg

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Posted 06 November 2002 - 01:19 PM

Holy dictionary, Robin! There must be something wrong with the bat-translator!
My folks also seem to have forgotten everything about latin, no one could help me on this.

IS THERE A DOCTOR OR A PRIEST IN THIS FORUM???
Not that anybody has fallen seriously ill, but those folks are supposed to know at least some latin :)

Good help is so hard to find these days. *sigh*

I'll keep on trying to figure this out, maybe I should hand it over to Q-branch.


NB: Q-branch just reported that our question has been passed to some real experts (it seems to be really difficult, even to people who know latin much better than we do). I'll hopefully have the answer by tomorrow.

#28 Thunderbird

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Posted 06 November 2002 - 07:16 PM

Good luck, I will look forward to what the learned gentlemen have to say.

#29 Honey Rider

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Posted 06 November 2002 - 08:55 PM

Gotta know, Gotta know...gotta really, really know!

#30 stromberg

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Posted 07 November 2002 - 01:17 PM

Okay folks, here it is:

According to my dear friend Lotus Esprit (who decided himself to become a right honourable member of this forums but for some unknown reason has some problems with his postings), the motto on Ian Fleming's grave "omnia perfunctus vitai praemia marces" means

After you enjoyed all gifts of life, you are slow-acting.

I found an old English translation of that book by Lucretius, where that line is translated as "Thou wrinklest - after thou hast had the sum of the guerdons of life"

One of my agents, Dr. Double-O-Schneider, is still missing in action. He's indeed a doctor of philosophy and a teacher, but couldn't translate it himself. He wanted to take the question to the experts and maybe provide some further explainations. So watch out, there might be more to come.