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46-654: Three Men on the Bummel (also known as Three Men on Wheels ) is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome . It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) . The sequel brings back the three companions who figured in Three Men in a Boat , this time on a bicycle tour through Germany. D. C. Browning's introduction to the 1957 Everyman's edition says "Like most sequels, it has been compared unfavourably with its parent story, but it

92-496: A Man of Letters , but the death of his father when Jerome was 13 and of his mother when he was 15 forced him to quit his studies and find work to support himself. He was employed at the London and North Western Railway , initially collecting coal that fell along the railway, and he remained there for four years. Jerome was inspired by his elder sister Blandina's love for the theatre, and he decided to try his hand at acting in 1877, under

138-624: A "tenth-rate writer". Jerome volunteered to serve his country at the outbreak of the First World War , but being 55 years old, he was rejected by the British Army. Eager to serve in some capacity, he volunteered as an ambulance driver for the French Army. In 1926, Jerome published his autobiography, My Life and Times . Shortly afterwards, the Borough of Walsall conferred on him the title Freeman of

184-673: A boat on the River Thames ; he published Three Men in a Boat soon afterwards. He continued to write fiction, non-fiction and plays over the next few decades, though never with the same level of success. Jerome was born at Belsize House, 1 Caldmore Road, in Caldmore , Walsall , England. He was the fourth child of Marguerite Jones and Jerome Clapp (who later renamed himself Jerome Clapp Jerome), an ironmonger and lay preacher who dabbled in architecture. He had two sisters, Paulina and Blandina, and one brother, Milton, who died at an early age. Jerome

230-511: A confederation with Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, a college Fraternity with over 270 chapters in the United States and Canada. The Corps sprang from the older Landsmannschaft . The name Corps came into use in 1810 at the University of Heidelberg and soon displaced the older name of Landsmannschaft at all the universities. The oldest still active Corps are the 1789 founded Guestphalia at

276-606: A dancing Dervish." Jerome would have been aware of Mark Twain 's humorous travelogue, A Tramp Abroad (1880), based on a walking tour through similar parts of Germany, with extensive comments on the language and culture. Three Men on the Bummel follows in this vein. At least one of Jerome's remarks, however, is remarkably prescient: "Hitherto, the German has had the blessed fortune to be exceptionally well governed; if this continues, it will go well with him. When his troubles will begin will be when by any chance something goes wrong with

322-417: A human being, can promenade for the next month, the envy of the German youth, the admiration of the German maiden. He who obtains only a few unimportant wounds retires sulky and disappointed....These young German gentlemen could obtain all the results of which they are so proud by teasing a wild cat! To join a society for the mere purpose of getting yourself hacked about reduces a man to the intellectual level of

368-488: A journalist, writing essays, satires, and short stories, but most of these were rejected. Over the next few years, he was a school teacher, a packer, and a solicitor's clerk. Finally, in 1885, he had some success with On the Stage ;— and Off (1885), a comic memoir of his experiences with the acting troupe, followed by Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886), a collection of humorous essays which had previously appeared in

414-450: A little boat," a fact that was to have a significant influence on his next and most important work, Three Men in a Boat . Jerome sat down to write Three Men in a Boat as soon as the couple returned from their honeymoon. In the novel, his wife was replaced by his longtime friends George Wingrave (George) and Carl Hentschel (Harris). This allowed him to create comic (and non-sentimental) situations which were nonetheless intertwined with

460-491: A musical. Its writing style has influenced many humourists and satirists in England and elsewhere. With the financial security that the sales of the book provided, Jerome was able to dedicate all of his time to writing. He wrote a number of plays, essays, and novels, but was never able to recapture the success of Three Men in a Boat . In 1892, he was chosen by Robert Barr to edit The Idler (over Rudyard Kipling ). The magazine

506-426: A policeman to tell the German how to cross it. Were there no policeman there, he would probably sit down and wait till the river had passed by. At the railway station the policeman locks him up in the waiting-room, where he can do no harm to himself. When the proper time arrives, he fetches him out and hands him over to the guard of the train, who is only a policeman in another uniform. The guard tells him where to sit in

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552-421: A role. Corpsstudenten (corps students) wear couleur (colored stripes and caps) and practice Mensuren , academic fencing with razor-sharp blades that can result in bleeding face wounds, Schmisse . The corps usually bear names that reflect their former origin from certain German regions, such as Saxonia (Saxony) or Guestphalia (Westphalia). Formerly, when a distance of a few hundred kilometres between

598-566: A student's home town and his university meant weeks of travel, students from the same part of Germany traveled together and formed some kind of "new family". The distance, plus the fact that they carried the money for a complete semester with them in a bag, might also explain why students began fencing, simply for self-defense, for students, military officers, and aristocrats were the only people allowed to carry arms. Like all Studentenverbindungen , corps consist of two bodies: The active part consists of all members, that still study and have duties for

644-479: Is a German word, as Jerome does not explain until the end of the book, and apart from his book, it has not received any widespread use in English. (The first American edition, published by Dodd Mead in 1900, was entitled Three Men on Wheels .) One of the characters in the book asks, "how would you translate [bummel]," to which the narrator replies, in the very final paragraph of the book: The general style and manner of

690-468: Is that The trump card that Bummel lacks, and which makes Three Men in a Boat what it is, is the River Thames . ... It provides the framework for Jerome's discursive narrative. He can stray from the present adventure as much as he likes ... but the river holds the whole thing together and gives the book its satisfying unity. The best television situation comedies rely on this same device, a world with clearly-defined parameters. A ramble through Germany and

736-543: The Black Forest does not provide that. Hugh Laurie read the book as a Book at Bedtime for the BBC in 2001. Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humorist, best known for the comic travelogue Three Men in a Boat (1889). Other works include the essay collections Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886) and Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow ; Three Men on

782-532: The Corpshaus (Corps House) in order. The Altherrenschaft , graduates with regular incomes, provide financial support. This usually means quite cheap housing for the younger members among other things. The Altherrenschaft has the power to intervene in the business of the active members, typically to ensure the principles and spirit of their corps. The active body is headed by a panel of three Chargierte (charged persons), who are elected by all active, full members at

828-600: The Kneipe , an organised beer party, and the Mensur , or Academic fencing. The mensur sword duels are described at length, with little humour, and with Jerome expressing extreme disapproval for the tradition. "As the object of each student is to go away from the University bearing as many scars as possible... The real victor is he who comes out with the greatest number of wounds; he who then, stitched and patched almost to unrecognition as

874-854: The University of Halle , the 1798 founded Onoldia at the University of Erlangen who are both members of the KSCV and as a member of the WSC the Saxo-Montania founded also 1798 at the Bergakademie Freiberg today at the RWTH Aachen University . After the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819, the Corps were exposed to harsh persecution by university and state officials just like their rivals as at the universities in Germany

920-773: The Borough . During these last years, Jerome spent more time at his farmhouse Gould's Grove south-east of Ewelme near Wallingford . Jerome suffered a paralytic stroke and a cerebral haemorrhage in June 1927, on a motoring tour from Devon to London via Cheltenham and Northampton . He lay in Northampton General Hospital for two weeks before dying on 14 June. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and his ashes buried at St Mary's Church, Ewelme, Oxfordshire. Elsie, Ettie and his sister Blandina are buried beside him. His gravestone reads "For we are labourers together with God". A small museum dedicated to his life and works

966-454: The Bummel , a sequel to Three Men in a Boat ; and several other novels. Jerome was born in Walsall , England, and, although he was able to attend grammar school, his family suffered from poverty at times, as did he as a young man trying to earn a living in various occupations. In his twenties, he was able to publish some work, and success followed. He married in 1888, and the honeymoon was spent on

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1012-526: The Bummel , the sequel to Three Men in a Boat , reintroducing the same characters in the setting of a foreign bicycle tour. The book was nonetheless unable quite to recapture the sheer comic energy and historic rootedness of its celebrated predecessor (lacking as it does the unifying thread that is the river Thames itself) and it has enjoyed only modest success by comparison. However, some of the individual comic vignettes that make up "Bummel" have been praised as highly as those of "Boat". In 1902, he published

1058-652: The Burschenschaften. The corps are open to students of all nationalities and religions, unlike many other student fraternities. Although distinct, the corps are in some aspects similar to and serve many of the same purposes as college fraternities found in the United States . Corps are built upon the principle of tolerance : No corps may endorse a certain political, scientific, or religious viewpoint. In addition, all members are solely chosen by their personal character. Neither national, ethnic, nor social provenance play

1104-476: The basis of placing two equal opponents in front of each other. [...] This experience, and the intertwined need to overcome one's own fear, dedicated to the union of his Corps, and the connected strengthening of the sense of community aids the personal growth just as does taking a hit without losing one's stand and accepting the assessment of the Mensur by the own Corps Brothers. The Weinheimer Student Corps also maintain

1150-525: The beginning of each semester (or at the end of the former one). Their functions are called Senior , Consenior and Drittchargierter (meaning third charged person , also named Subsenior in some corps).: Being the oldest of their kind, the corps tend to treat all other forms of German Studentenverbindungen with contempt; corps despise all posturing and affectation (e.g. the overly use of Latinisms ) that other kinds of Studentenverbindungen , esp. Catholic corporations and Burschenschaften show. Even with

1196-424: The book are similar to its predecessor. It is a series of humorous vignettes, each of which builds slowly, through accumulation of layer on layer of detail, through several pages. Jeremy Nicholas calls these "set pieces." Most of them concern bicycling, genial (if shallow) commentary on German culture from the point of view of a British tourist, or situation-comedy -like depictions of interpersonal interactions between

1242-560: The characters. The novel was written near the end of the Victorian era bicycle craze , launched by the development of the two-wheeled safety bicycle . It depicts an era when bicycles had just become a familiar piece of middle-class recreational equipment. The references to brand competition, advertising, and enthusiasts' attitudes toward their equipment resonate with modern readers. The novel invites comparison with H. G. Wells 's 1896 humorous cycling novel, The Wheels of Chance . Many of

1288-489: The comments on cycling are relevant—and funny—today. Those who have purchased ergonomic bicycle saddles, intended to relieve pressure on the perineal nerves , may not know that these are not a new invention: I said "...There may be a better land where bicycle saddles are made out of rainbow, stuffed with cloud; in this world the simplest thing is to get used to something hard. There was that saddle you bought in Birmingham; it

1334-424: The fraternity, and the so-called Altherrenschaft (alumni organization), comprising all those who graduated and thus provide the bear share of the monetary stimulus for the fraternity. A fundamental idea is that older students should help their younger fellows, and this principle dominates the relationship between the two bodies. The former keeps the everyday business of the corps alive, organizes gatherings, and keeps

1380-402: The governing machine. Jeremy Nicholas says that the book is "unfairly chastised as being an ineffectual afterthought" to Three Men in a Boat , and that "the set pieces (the boot shop, Harris and his wife on the tandem, Harris confronting the hose-pipe, the animal riot in the hill-top restaurant) are as polished and funny (funnier, some would say) as anything in the earlier book." His analysis

1426-538: The history of the Thames region. The book, published in 1889, became an instant success and has never been out of print. Its popularity was such that the number of registered Thames boats went up fifty per cent in the year following its publication, and it contributed significantly to the Thames becoming a tourist attraction. In its first twenty years alone, the book sold over a million copies worldwide. It has been adapted into films, television , radio shows, stage plays, and even

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1472-504: The leading figures of the most diverse political directions. The emphasis on individuality brought many corps students in opposition to totalitarian regimes, such as the National Socialist dictatorship. The 'bject and purpose of the Corps was and still is solely the education of students to become a strong, free and cosmopolitan personality who is not held back by religious, racist, national, scientific or philosophical limitations of

1518-572: The mind. Three primary institutions within the fraternity aid with achieving this aim; including the Corpsconvent [regular council meetings of the Corps Brothers], the Kneipe [celebratory get-together of Corps Brothers with speeches, beer and songs], and today's Bestimmungsmensur [the event of academic fencing with sharp blades for the first or one of the first times], where the ones to fence are chosen on

1564-464: The newly founded magazine, Home Chimes , the same magazine that would later serialise Three Men in a Boat . On 21 June 1888, Jerome married Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Marris ("Ettie"), nine days after she divorced her first husband. She had a daughter from her previous five-year marriage nicknamed Elsie (her actual name was also Georgina). The honeymoon took place on the River Thames "in

1610-595: The nobility, royalty, and social elite, and are traditionally viewed as more aristocratic and elitist than other German student fraternities such as the Catholic Cartellverband and the Burschenschaften . They consider tolerance and individuality to be key tenets and are rooted in German idealism . By and large, they are generally conservative in political outlook, but less right-wing and less nationalist than

1656-544: The novel Paul Kelver , which is widely regarded as autobiographical. His 1908 play The Passing of the Third Floor Back introduced a more sombre and religious Jerome. The main character was played by one of the leading actors of the time, Johnston Forbes-Robertson , and the play was a tremendous commercial success. It was twice made into film, in 1918 and in 1935 . However, the play was condemned by critics; Max Beerbohm described it as "vilely stupid" and as written by

1702-540: The picture always seemed to me indelicate." Jerome's comic stereotypes of Germany and the German character provide some picture of the country during the period of the German Empire , at least how it was popularly perceived in Britain. Generally, the country is portrayed as clean and orderly, yet heavily policed, with the authorities strictly enforcing even the most trivial of a vast number of laws and regulations (this causes

1748-405: The principle of tolerance being a central aspect in each corps' self-image, every corps student is urged to develop his own viewpoints, to stand for them and to strongly participate in society, whether in politics, economy, or social affairs. This encouragement for ethics and self-confidence on one hand, and the absence of a limitation to certain views on the other, let Corps students often show up as

1794-416: The stage name Harold Crichton. He joined a repertory theatre troupe that produced plays on a shoestring budget, often drawing on the actors' own meagre resources — Jerome was penniless at the time — to purchase costumes and props. After three years on the road with no evident success, the 21-year-old Jerome decided that he had had enough of stage life and sought other occupations. He tried to become

1840-400: The three men to frequently be in minor trouble with the law). The German people are described as amiable, unselfish, homely, kind and egalitarian; yet they are also placid and obedient, eager to obey those in authority. "The German citizen is a soldier, and the policeman is his officer. The policeman directs him where in the street to walk, and how fast to walk. At the end of each bridge stands

1886-474: The train, and when to get out, and sees that he does get out. In Germany you take no responsibility upon yourself whatever. Everything is done for you, and done well." Jerome goes on to comment that it would be consistent with the German character for a criminal condemned to death to be simply given a piece of rope, and told to go and hang himself. The Englishmen spend some time in the company of students; Jerome describes German Student Corps and their customs of

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1932-475: Was an illustrated satirical monthly catering to gentlemen (who, following the theme of the publication, appreciated idleness). In 1893, he founded To-Day , but had to withdraw from both publications because of financial difficulties and a libel suit. Jerome's play Biarritz had a run of two months at the Prince of Wales Theatre between April and June 1896. In 1898, a short stay in Germany inspired Three Men on

1978-417: Was divided in the middle, and looked like a pair of kidneys." He said: "You mean that one constructed on anatomical principles." "Very likely," I replied. "The box you bought it in had a picture on the cover, representing a sitting skeleton—or rather that part of a skeleton which does sit." He said: "It was quite correct; it showed you the true position of the--" I said: "We will not go into details;

2024-538: Was only a little less celebrated than Three Men in a Boat and was for long used as a school book in Germany." Jeremy Nicholas of the Jerome K. Jerome Society regards it as a "comic masterpiece" containing "set pieces" as funny or funnier than those in its predecessor, but, taken as a whole, not as satisfying due to the lack of as strong a unifying thread. D. C. Browning writes "The title must be puzzling to many readers, for 'bummel' will not be found in English dictionaries." It

2070-693: Was opened in 1984 at his birth home in Walsall, but it closed in 2008 and the contents were returned to Walsall Museum . German Student Corps Most corps are organized in two federations, the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband ( KSCV ) and the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent ( WSC ). Together, they comprise 162 Corps throughout Germany , Austria , Belgium , Estonia , Latvia , Hungary , Switzerland and Lithuania . The German Student Corps were traditionally recruited from

2116-640: Was registered as Jerome Clapp Jerome, like his father's amended name, and the Klapka appears to be a later variation (after the exiled Hungarian general György Klapka ). The family fell into poverty owing to bad investments in the local mining industry, and debt collectors visited often, an experience that Jerome described vividly in his autobiography My Life and Times (1926). At the age of two Jerome moved with his parents to Stourbridge , Worcestershire, then later to east London. The young Jerome attended St Marylebone Grammar School . He wished to go into politics or be

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