“Members of the Moggyinsky Musical Ensemble include a white rabbit harpist named Angelica Flumpfloss, and rough collie Sally Stradivari and mongrel Harry Handel who play the violins. Cats, Tabitha Tracycova and Maximilian Ianovitch are on cornet and tuba, greyhound Minnie Mancini on trombone, terrier Tipsy Truffles blows the trumpet, while the dignified pot-bellied pig, Big Basil Bowstring plays the base fiddle. New recruit, jackdaw Cora Ting, has nearly mastered the triangle, and the smallest musician of them all is field mouse Pip Piper, who plays the piccolo.
Moggyinsky Musical Ensemble
“Chief Inspector Gemma McBone is conductor of the ensemble, a rather unlikely choice as the large and rather fearsome German shepherd, together with her equally fearsome companion, Constable Frances de Wolf, player of marimba, xylophone and kettledrums, is employed as guard dog on the Pluckerslea Estate.
“Both dogs take their daily policing duties very seriously, inspecting visiting furless folk and sniffing out light-fingered types as they leave. Teeth have been barred more than once at a shifty looking character disguised as a sweet, frail old lady, fiercely protecting a bulging handbag stuffed full of sugar packets, paper serviettes and plastic teaspoons pilfered from the Cosy Kettle Tea Rooms.
“Because of the Hall’s spooky reputation, no furless folk dare venture here after dark, which leaves the two sternly superior, self-important guard dogs free to concentrate their policing skills on checking the arrival of animals from Pets’ Corner, woodland and fields, who are employed behind the scenes at the Crypt Theatre.
“When satisfied all is in order and according to the book, Chief Inspector McBone and Constable de Wolf join their fellow musicians for practice sessions in the chapel at Pluckerslea Hall. With its cold stone arches and high vaulted ceiling, the acoustics in the chapel are excellent, and the sound of strange music floating up through the belfry at midnight, sends many a shiver down any passing furless folk’s spine.”