Page 73 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1926

wonderful sight - but not pleasant. We watched it from several places & then motored back. The show is held
on the anniversary of the murder of Hussein & Hosein, two disciples of Mahomed who are the two special saints
of Shia Mohamedans.

Tuesday [20th July]

Very busy morning. A lot of cases in my Court, & then work on the old Budget which Daly & I hope to finish off
tomorrow. Intended playing tennis at Spences but had so much work that I had to go down to the office after lunch &
stayed there from 4 till 7 pm, finally finished off all the accounts. My clerks are quite tired out with it all.

Wednesday [21st July]

The third & most important day of Muharram. Public holiday. Went to the office after an early breakfast & then to
Daly's where we started the work. Very hot damp day. At 9.30 Daly & I motored down to the square behind the
biggest mosque & went up onto the top of a house belonging to some Jews. The sides of the square simply
packed with people & all the roofs crowded with women, in black, all howling & crying. The procession really
looked rather like a circus, flags & banners & then all the figures, like a mystery play, from the story of Hussein
& Hosein, the corpses, very realistic & covered in blood, one headless corpse, very unpleasant, horses covered in
gore, wives, prisoners, Hoseins house, an affair of cardboard & tinsel, & camels & horses etc etc, really