Moorland Mousie Country Life, 1929, illus Lionel Edwards (1st edn left) Reprinted many times: popular edition 1931, Others 1941 and 1958 (1958 edn right)
Older Mousie Country Life, 1932, Lionel Edwards
Muriel Wace, whose pseudonym was Golden Gorse, wrote four pony books, and two instructional pony books for children. Many thanks to Clarissa Cridland, of Girls Gone By, for permission to quote the following piece on the author. Looking though The Young Rider’s Picture Book I discovered a photograph of Moorland Mousie (who was a real pony) together with a man with a caption which said ‘This picture shows Mousie in the following year as a 3-year old. In my month at the farm I finished their education.’ I made the incorrect, but perhaps natural, assumption that Golden Gorse was a man. I wrote to tell the person who’d asked his identity and she wrote back to say that she had now discovered he was called M R Wace. I worked at Macmillan [with Michael Wace] ... I asked Michael if this were a relative and he denied all knowledge of M R Wace or Golden Gorse. Shortly afterwards I discovered Lucy Faulkner of Bookline in Northern Ireland.... She sent me an article which had appeared in the Riding Annual in 1980, in which the author had searched out Golden Gorse and discovered her to be Muriel Wace, married to the Rev Henry Wace. I took this into Michael. ‘Gosh, yes’, he said. ‘Henry Wace was my father’s cousin.’ When Michael brought me in his family tree, it was not surprising that he didn’t know all his relatives - his grandfather was one of 14, and his father one of 11! Interestingly, though when Michael asked one of his female cousins whether she had ever heard of Golden Gorse, she replied ‘Gosh, yes, she was my Godmother.’ Sadly, I haven’t managed to get to see Michael’s cousin yet to find out more, but it shows what an incredibly small place the world is. Links This is the website of the Exmoor Pony Centre, and the Moorland Mousie Trust. The Trust works to ensure the survival of the Exmoor Pony, which is threatened as many youngsters, particularly colts, are not sold. These foals are taken on by the Trust, the initial handling done, and the foals then placed in permanent or foster homes until they are old enough to be backed. The Exmoor Pony Centre gives people the chance to see, and to ride Exmoor ponies. I had always thought I was too hefty, post children, to ride an Exmoor but I see that there is a weight limit of 12 stone to ride out on the Exmoors. The only problem would be where to put my legs. The Trust has a quiz on Exmoors, including sections on the Exmoor in art and literature. There are at least 2 questions you can answer if you’ve read this page!
