Series LR4 - The Kensington Mass

The Kensington Mass was published in Agenda vol. 11, no. 4, vol. 12, no.1 (Autumn-Winter 1973-1974) and by Agenda Editions in 1975. In The Roman Quarry the second section of the book contains three poems entitled 'The Kensington Mass', 'Caillech' and 'The Grail Mass'. To David Jones it appears that there was only one 'Mass' poem, which dates from January 1939, therefore all manuscript and typescript drafts of 'Mass' poems are arranged as part of this series. 'The Kensington Mass' is dedicated in memory of Fr. John O'Connor who died in February 1952. The 'Grail Mass' was printed from a BBC script for a recording in 1958 which was never broadcast due to the unsatisfactory quality of the recording. In date of composition the 'Grail Mass' preceedes 'The Kensington Mass' and 'Caillech', but was possibly lost at some stage by David Jones. 'The Grail Mass' overlaps with 'The Old Quarry'. The numbers referred to on file level are not folio numbers but the numbers written in the bottom right hand corner by René Hague.