'Aroma of lavender': Betjeman seen as too nostalgic to be poet laureate, papers show

Sir John Betjeman was dismissed as a "songster of tennis lawns and cathedral cloisters" evoking an "aroma of lavender and faint musk" five years before he was finally appointed to the prestigious post of poet laureate, newly released government documents reveal.

- Caroline Davies

WH Auden, meanwhile, was regarded by some as the best candidate but was once ruled out because he had taken US citizenship and because of a pornographic poem that had appeared under his name in an underground magazine. The work, titled The Gobble Poem, was said to be "of so filthy a character that his appointment would bring disgrace upon the office".

Papers released by the National Archives reveal the internecine disputes in the cut-throat world of poetry as successive governments sought consultation on recommendations to Buckingham Palace for the crown appointment, for which the incumbent received £70 annually and £27 in lieu of a "butt of sack" (a barrel of Spanish wine).

Betjeman was first shortlisted in 1967 after the death of John Masefield. John Hewitt, Harold Wilson's secretary for appointments who had the task of consulting on candidates, was deluged with applications from the public advancing their own claims, and even received a hand-drawn "flower card" from the American beat poet Allan Ginsberg with the words "Donovan for laureate", referring to the pop-singing poet, records reveal.