Tiger woman : my story

133 Pages·2014·1.42 MB·English

by  Crowley

TIGER WOMAN
[Vaughan & Freeman.
BETTY MAY— “THE TIGER WOMAN”
TIGER WOMAN
My Story
by
BETTY MAY
Duckworth Overlook
LONDON & NEW YORK
This eBook edition 2014
This edition published in the UK in 2014 by Duckworth Overlook
LONDON
30 Calvin Street, London E1 6NW
T: 020 7490 7300
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NEW YORK
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New York, NY 10012
www.overlookpress.com
First published by
Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd in 1929
© 1929 by Betty May All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library ISBNs Paperback: 9780715648551
Mobi: 9780715649251
ePub: 9780715649268
Library PDF: 9780715649275
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
CHILDHOOD
Myself—Earliest memories—My coster grandmother—A suicide—I am sent to
live with my father—My father’s bad character—His arrest by my
grandfather—Life on a barge—I dance for some sailors—I go to Somerset—
The schoolmaster—I am sent to London—The beginning of adventures
CHAPTER II
THE CAFÉ ROYAL
My first night club—Rosie’s wig—A Cambridge undergraduate—The Endell
Street Club—I am taken to the Café Royal—Epstein—Augustus John—
Horace Cole— Epstein speaks to me—The Cave of the Golden Calf—
Madame Strindberg—“The Cherub”—“Pretty Pet”—I go to Bordeaux
CHAPTER III
FRANCE
Bordeaux—I dance at a café chantant—I fight with Pretty Pet and leave him—I
am taken on as a professional dancer—The Apache—I go to Paris—The
Apache gang—I fight with Hortense—“Tiger-Woman”—I fight with The
Strangler—The methods of the gang—The branding—The gang is dispersed
—I return to England
CHAPTER IV
GETTING MARRIED
The Café Royal again—Some notable people—The Crabtree Club— Bunny—I
get engaged—I go to Cornwall to be improved—The Rectory—Life in the
country—Practical jokes—I escape to London—Arthur—Engaged again—A
surprise marriage
CHAPTER V
DRUGS AND DIVORCE
My honeymoon—Cocaine—Scotland—A curious household in London—The
outbreak of war—Bunny joins the army—I am left alone in London—Chinese
hair-nets— Divorce—A chivalrous Australian—A thrashing— Back to the
Café again—I sit to Epstein for “The Savage”
CHAPTER VI
THE MYSTIC
Raoul—The Princess Amen Ra—Marriage again—The spirit photograph—My
walk to “The Trout”—An apparition—I meet the Mystic—The White
Magician—The Mystic at the Harlequin—I visit the Mystic’s house—Raoul
decides to go to Sicily
CHAPTER VII
THE ABBEY
We embark for Sicily—Discomforts of the journey— Cefalu—We arrive at the
Abbey—Life in the Abbey— The razors—Jack the Ripper’s ties—“We shall
sacrifice Sister Sybiline at eight o’clock to-night”— Pentagram—Raoul’s ill-
health—The sacrifice of the cat—The death of Raoul—Raoul’s burial—I
return to England
CHAPTER VIII
I GO TO AMERICA
Jacob Kramer—A fox-hunting painter—A mad visit to Yorkshire— Poverty—I
appear in the papers—Princess Waletka—New York—Broadway—An Indian
Reservation—Montreal—I part with Waletka—I return home—I meet Carol
—Marriage again—Life in the country—My shop—The Rookery—Carol’s
illness—I run away
CONCLUSION
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Betty May, “The Tiger Woman”
Betty May
The Old Café Royal. By Adrian Allinson
Betty May
Betty May
Betty May. By B. N. Satterthwaite
“The Sphinx.” By Jacob Kramer
Betty May
Betty May at the Fitzroy Tavern. By Nina Hamnett
Betty May. By Gerald Reitlinger
Betty May. By Michael Sevier
INTRODUCTION
I SUPPOSE that a good many of the people who read this book (if any do !) will
have heard of me already. Some of them will actually know me and remember
the things and the people I am going to speak of. They will recognize several of
the individuals who are called only by their Christian names, or who are only
described by their appearance or most marked characteristics. For these it may
be interesting to recall the old times of before and during the war—now that
everything is so altered— and the adventures that we used to have in those days.
But there will be a great many people who will never have heard of me at all,
and for them I want to explain a little of myself if possible, before I begin. I want
this to be a frank history of my life. By this I mean that I want people to realize
what I am really like. A lot of the stories I am going to tell are, I suppose, rather
unpleasant home-truths about myself, but I am not ashamed of them. They are
all part of me, and when you have read my story perhaps you will understand in
some way how my character has been formed.
When I read through this book the thing that struck me most was what an
exciting life I have had up to the present (you see I am not even middle-aged
yet). But in spite of this it has not really felt so exciting while it has all been
going on. Of course bits of it have been thrilling, I admit. But then for long
periods nothing seemed to happen to speak of, and I had no money or was
terribly bored or something like that, and things did not seem bright at all. I
suppose everybody’s life really feels much like that however exciting it is, and I
should be grateful for the experiences that I have had. I have only written down
events that I thought would interest everybody because I thought otherwise no
one would want to read the book, and one thing I should like to make clear is
that the things which are likely to interest everybody are not always the things
that have interested me most. I have had all sorts of experiences which mean a
lot to me but would not interest anyone else to hear about. I suppose every
woman carries in her heart memories that mean more to her than all sorts of
exciting stories she might be able to tell. It is certainly so with me, and if there