W(illiam).A(rthur). Rathkey can be found in periodicals in the 1930s, and composed this frequently-quoted limerick:
G. B. Shaw wrote to Yeats: “P’haps it’s mad of me,
And I know that you folks with think bad of me,
But may I remark,
Before you embark,
That I am the Irish Academy.”
He also composed librettos.
He was born in 1902 in Cardiff, a teacher’s son, and he appears to have had a twin sister, Nellie. (His mother has died by 1911.) In the 1930s, he is living in Willesden with his wife (he married in 1930) – his wife was also from Cardiff. When he wins a Spectator competition in 1932, his address is given as : 14 Oxford Road, N.W.10.
1932
Wins 107B: £1.1s.0d
Wins 110B: £1.1s.0d
Wins 131B (split): 5s 3d
Wins 139B: 10s 6d
1933
Wins 151B: £1.1s.0d
Wins 161B: £1.1s.0d
Wins 163A: £2.2s.0d
