Re: Brittany: Convivial times (8.01.03)

I asked George Sassoon, who had described his adventure in Brittany: "Why on earth would anyone travel in France with bagpipes in his car?" He replies: "Because such an accoutrement can lead to amusing evenings such as this! I also usually take my accordion, the French chromatic type, with six rows of buttons on the right-hand side, which enables one to play in any key with the same fingering. I played this at the 80th birthday party of Edmondo Il Principe Ruspoli in Rome (a Prince of the Catholic Church) which ended with the carabinieri (police) being called. One day I will write a book about these travels. Playing the pipes in Serbia led to another memorable event. Another time in Italy, my playing resulted in our being presented with a case of wine. On unloading the car at home, I saw with alarm that it was called "Vino dell'Inferno" (Hell wine). Then I remembered that we had been in the Dante country".

RH: I consulted John Ashcroft about this, and he said you were a dangerous terrorist. He has a report that Prince Ruspoli did not survive.