We've Started a Butler Journal — A Word of Greeting

My lady, sir, I hope this finds you in the very best of spirits. This is Butler Bell. We have at last launched our "Butler Journal," where the butlers of THE BUTLER will write their daily notes — and it falls to me, as head butler, to pen this first word of greeting.

What comes to mind is my grandfather, who also walked the path of a butler. When I was small he would tell me, "A butler's work is not in the single moment before a guest — it lies in the unseen days we build up in order to be ready for that moment." This journal is, in a sense, an attempt to put a little of those "unseen days" into words.

So I have no intention of making this a stiff, formal read. There will be a good deal of rambling talk here — the way we care for our tools, small things noticed at the turn of a season, little habits handed down from those before us. Incidentally, my own favourite tea is the Royal Blend from Fortnum & Mason, a subject I fully intend to write about before long.

The greatest pleasure of this journal is that I am not its only writer. One has long guarded a great house, one handles fine art, one is the first to meet a guest at the door — even among butlers, there is more than one view of the world. Some write in a lively regional accent, some quietly line up their reasoning. I do hope you will enjoy that very unevenness.

Updates will be irregular, written whenever one of us feels moved to take up the pen. Rather than dramatic events, we will treasure the small daily observations. We thank you for your continued kindness to THE BUTLER, and hope these become a pleasant record of our days.