“Wilderness is not a luxury
but a necessity of the
human spirit.”
Edward Abbey
“Dark Sky Island” by Enya (courtesy of Letitia Luca):
“Unless you try to do something
beyond what you have already
mastered, you will never grow!”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Courtesy of Rimpyroo:
Today’s post is about a book that is loved and famous because its author had deeply felt emotions of love for nature, freedom, adventure, imagination, and the talent to put those feelings into words. The readers who know this book will agree, those who still are planning to read it, are in for an unforgettable treat.
ARTHUR RANSOME
1884 – 1967
Courtesy of Mad Biker 3020:
Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884, the oldest of four children. His father was a history professor at what is now Leeds University. Ransome was educated at Rugby. Until his father’s death, when Arthur was 13, the family would spend every summer holiday in a house on Coniston Water. His father inspired Arthur’s love of the outdoors A few years later when Ransome was struggling to earn a living as a writer in London, he snatched a brief holiday in Coniston and met a near neighbour, a celebrated writer and Lakeland artist, W.G. Collingwood.
Coniston Water in the Lake District
Courtesy of Aerodynamics Consultants Ltd:
It was a watershed in his life. He was taken in by the Collingwoods and more or less adopted into their family. Their son, Robin, and two daughters, Dora and Barbara, taught him how to sail. In due course, he proposed to both in turn, and although both turned him down, Ransome remained close to them. Dora went on to marry Dr Ernest Altounyan; the Swallows and Amazons were the children Ransome would have wanted to have.
Instead, he married Ivy Walker, a melodramatic aspiring writer. She would send telegrams to herself, and empty plates of eggs over her head to gain her husband’s attention. Aged 24, Ransome had proposed to her half as a joke, and when he tried to break off the engagement, there were histrionic scenes that made him feel, he said, ‘at the same time a villain and a rabbit.’
He became a reporter for the Daily News, in London, for whom he was a Russian correspondent during the First World War and the Russian Revolution. Mostly to escape Ivy, Ransome took off for Russia in 1913, though not before they had a daughter, Tabitha. Poor eyesight and ill health made him unfit to join the British Army in 1914, so he was able to stay in Russia as a correspondent through the days of the revolution and the founding of the Soviet Union. It is thought that Ransome was the only Englishman to play chess with Lenin.
Alexander Bogdanov playing chess with Lenin
He was recruited into MI6 and filed regular reports on the Soviet leadership to the Secret Intelligence Service. He was far too dreamy to be a proper spy, but courageous nonetheless. Twice he bluffed his way through the front lines of the Russian civil war to carry peace proposals from Estonia to Kremlin. Walking towards the lines, he clenched his pipe in his teeth and puffed furiously, trusting that nobody would shoot a man with a pipe in his mouth. He won over the soldiers who threatened to kill him and went on his way. Walking back through the lines, he was challenged three times by different warring bands, and survived the last challenge when an officer recognised him as a chess partner.
“Piano Concerto No. 2” (2nd movement) by Rachmaninov, performed by Hauser and the London Symphony Orchestra:
Back in England in 1924, he concluded a harrowing divorce from Ivy. While in Russia, he met Trotsky’s secretary, Evgenia, and now free, married her. He returned to England and with Evgenia, they settled in the Lake District, where to pay off his alimony, Ransome wrote fishing pieces for the Guardian. Then came Swallows And Amazons, and Ransome’s financial problems were over.
Evgenia Shelepina, later to become Ransome’s wife, whom he called Topsy or Dear Old Top.
He and Evgenia had no children of their own. Ivy refused to let him see Tabitha, who bitterly resented her father’s evocations of the idyllic childhood she never had, especially since he gave her mother’s maiden name of Walker to his invented family. In old age, he turned against the Altounyan family, thinking, unfairly, that they were taking the credit for inspiring his books. Ransome had never really ceased to be a child himself; he was protecting the private world of his imagination.
Arthur Ransome died in 1967 and was buried in St. Paul’s Church, in Rusland in the Lake District, where fans still write in the visitors’ book, “Swallows and Amazons Forever!”
Courtesy of ian chapman:
In 1925 he bought an old farmhouse near Cartmel Fell and the area would provide the setting for his classic “Swallows and Amazons” series of novels for children. His novels have been published all over the world, inspiring many tourists to visit the location he described with such affection.
Low Ludderburn in Cartmel Fell, where Ransome lived
Courtesy of Lakeland Arts:
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS
A pair of red Turkish slippers started it all. In 1928, Arthur Ransome, then 44, spent the summer sailing on Coniston Water in the Lake District. With a friend, Ernest Altounyan, he bought two 14ft dinghies, and with the five Altounyan children, he explored the islands and lakeshore he had known as a child. After summer was over, the children came round to present “Uncle Arthur” with the Turkish slippers as a parting gift for his birthday. In return, Ransome began writing a story for them with the dedication, ‘For the six for whom it was written in exchange for a pair of slippers.’ The story was Swallows And Amazons.
Three of the Altounyan children who inspired Ransome
Dora Collingwood, who married Dr Ernest Altounyan
It was the first in a series of 12 books written over the next 18 years that would enthrall millions of children and make even duffers want to learn how to sail. Taqui Altounyan (the tomboy Nancy Blackett in the books) remembered Ransome as a ruddy-faced man who played penny whistle and had round glasses and a rather long moustache. If he had been no more than an overgrown schoolboy who loved fishing and messing about in boats, he would still be among immortals – but his background was more bloodcurdling than any of his adventure stories.
On the first day, Ransome writes,
“…they had seen the lake like an inland sea. And on the lake they had seen the island. All four of them had been filled at once with the same idea. It was not just an island. It was the island, waiting for them. It was their island. With an island like that within sight, who could be content to live on the mainland and sleep in a bed at night?”
When Mrs. Walker sends a letter informing her husband, an officer in the Royal Navy, of the children’s desire to sail out and camp by themselves on the island called Wild Cat, he responds by a terse but empowering telegram:
“Better drowned than duffers.
If not duffers won’t drown”
That sets the tone for much of what follows in this enchanting book; children left to their devices to manage their days and make their own fun. After piloting the catboat Swallow to the island, the Walker children camp amidst the glorious outdoors. They fish and then cook their supper on an open fire. They gather wild garlic and spinach leaves to go with the freshly cooked fish and wild mushrooms. They sing and they tell stories and laugh around the campfire.
Having made friends with the Blackett sisters, Nancy and Peggy, who live locally and sail a dinghy named Amazon, they engage in friendly competition and join forces against the Blacketts’ unfriendly uncle James, whom they nickname Captain Flint. Adventure ensues when the Captain’s boat is burgled, but all comes right in the end, setting the stage for ten delightful sequels that similarly celebrate the resourcefulness of young people allowed to get their hands dirty as they master real skills – boating, camping, fishing, and the like – in a delightfully imagined but recognisable wonder of the natural world.
The book has had several adaptations, a recent one being the 2016 feature film, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe.
Courtesy of StudiocanalUK:
An extract from Swallows and Amazons:
“Next morning the whole of Swallow’s ship’s company bathed before breakfast. The landing place, with its little beach, on the eastern side of the island, was a good place for bathing. There was sand there, and though there were stones, they were not so sharp as elsewhere. Also, the water did not go deep there very suddenly, and after Susan had walked out a good long way, she said that Roger might bathe too. Roger, who had been waiting on the beach, pranced splashing into the water.
‘You are to swim as well as splash,’ said Mate Susan.
‘Aye, aye, sir,’ said Roger. He crouched in the water with only his head out. That, at least, felt very like swimming. John and Susan swam races, first one way, and then the other. Titty, privately, was being a cormorant. This was not the sort of thing that she could very well talk of to John or Susan until she was sure that it was a success. So she said nothing about it. But she had seen that there were lots of minnows in the shallow water close to the shore. Perhaps there would be bigger ones further out, like the fish the cormorants had been catching yesterday. Titty watched them carefully. The way they did it was to swim quietly and then suddenly to dive under water, humping their backs, keeping their wings close together, and going under head first. She tried, but she found that unless she used her arms, she did not get under water at all.”
“Je crois entendre encore” (Arr. for Violin & Orchestra) from “The Pearl Fishers” by Georges Bizet, performed by Joshua Bell (courtesy of mariamagda57):
Courtesy of JTC Films:
naturetails 
This has taken me a long way back, before 1956. I knew the name Arthur Ransome but I didn’t recall that book title. So I looked up his other books and sure enough Coot Club was a very favourite book but it was the only one I ever got because that was when we left England. The Lake District is so beautiful. If I had gone back to England it was a place I would love to have been. Those idyllic childhoods that everyone should have. Thank you for reminding me.
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A great post. Thank you so much for sharing the post.
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Fascinating. And I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I was totally unfamiliar with him.
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Thank you, Neil, for your kind comment. This is why you read my blog, and one more reason to put this book on your reading list, especially since you love nature and write so well about it.
Joanna
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Thank you, Iswar, for your kind comment.hhhhhGreatly appreciated.
Joanna
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Thank you, Carolyn, for such lovely comments! Glad to be of service! The Lake District is indeed exceptionally interesting with wildlife that one could observe without ever tiring off.
and the air is scented with all the greenery and the expanses of water. Paradise!
Joanna
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Another book I haven’t read, although I knew about it and the connections to the Lake District. What I really like about this series Joanna is that you not only tell us the storyline of the book, but also the story of the author’s life. Add in the usual mix of wonderful music and videos, and it makes for the perfect post. I can’t remember how many thousands of books you said you have, but this series could go on forever, and I hope it does. It’s absolutely brilliant 😊
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Thank you, Malc, for the wonderfully pleasing comments! The number of books is 10.000 and growing all the time. I write interesting things about deserts, rivers and India, among other things, but I might be biased. Please, don’t miss the next two post!
Thank you again, Malc, you are great!
Joanna
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What an interesting and adventurous life! And I love those old line drawings, somehow they were more vivid than modern full colour illustrations that leave very little to the imagination.
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Thank you, Harini, for your lovely comments! I agree about the drawings, they need a lot of skill, pen and ink method is often better at telling the story.
Thank you again, dear Harini, much appreciated.
Joanna
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Another far-reaching post: I enjoyed everything in it also because ( and I’m ashamed to say it) I didn’t know this author and his works
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Marvellous, Joanna, just such an enchanting story that brings back much happy reading in the past! 🌹💓💐🙋♂️ Here is a link you might be interested in:
https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/155317/Vintage-dinghy-renovation
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Thank you, Joanna, for discussing “Swallows and Amazons” and its author. The background of the story is really interesting. The story of adventures of children as young as 7 to 16 during holidays is captivating, particularly the encounter between the two groups of children that teaches them the skill of survival as also the value of friendship.
Arthur Ransome’s father died when he was 13. I was also 13 when my father expired. I can very well relate how this gives strength and resilience to
struggle for survival. That’s why it should be read by adults too.
I liked your remark that Ransome had never ceased to be a child himself. The story of Ransome in itself, ranging from his two wives, Ivy and Evgenia, as also Dora and Altounyan is also interesting to read and gives enough material for another story as you have mentioned..
Thanks again, Joanna, for publishing one more valuable post and making my Saturday evening worth enjoying.
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Thank you, Ashley, for your lovely, as always, comment! Thank you for the link.
I will look up later as have guests now.
Joanna
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Thank you, Kaushal, for your wonderful comments! I am late in replying because WordPress failed to tell me about it. As I was surprised not to hear from you, I decided to look up my comment section and discovered your comments were posted hours earlier. I love everything you wrote, and thank you again.
Joanna
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Thank you, Luisa, for your lovely comment. The book is worth reading and I recommend that you do. As Robertson Davies rightly wrote: ” A truly great book should be read in yought, again in maturity, and one more in old age,, as fine building should be seen by morning” light, at noon and by moonlight.”
Joanna
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Thank you for a beautiful post and so to hear about Arthur Ransome! I’ll be back for more readying about the others.. ❤️
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Thank you, Great Cindy! Regards to Ollie.
Joanna
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Thank you, Joanna! Yesterday I had problems in posting my comments. I don’t know why. I got success in my fourth attempt. I was wondering why you didn’t respond, as nothing could miss your sharp eyes. Thank God, you received it, and thank you for your kind words.
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You’re so welcome.. oh so sweet.. she sends purrs and licks.. ( yes, she licks_)🙀
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Nothing more wonderful than a licking cat. Some of the special treats for my cats are called
Licky-Licky! They love it!
Joanna
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Thank you Joanna for another great post, I especially appreciate the quote: “Unless you try to do something
beyond what you have already
mastered, you will never grow!”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Thank you, Henrietta, for your kind comments. Greatly appreciated.
Joanna
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I know as long as they don’t scratch your face and she’s a good one..
Oh wow.. I’ll look it up, thanks❣️
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You really know how to choose a topic and how to write. You really touche the very important strings of nature. I always learned from you.
Best wishes
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Thank you so much, Dr Raziq, for your generous comments! Nature is the most important topic for me to write about. I think we are in that respect, likeminded as you write beautifully about the desert, the importance of saving our planet and about animals. Your latest initiative to establish the day of the donkey, in order to change their image, and the delightful story that you wrote about the young couple in Pakistan who on their wedding day adopted a donkey foul, will go someway to stop the horrific abuse this gentle animals suffer. Thank you.
Joanna
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Thanks so very much for your kind appreciation. As you do, I love the nature as well. I wish each individual person played his/her role in nature conservation.
Best wishes
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I agree. Thank you.
Joanna
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You have made both the author and the books equally important and interesting characters in your saga. I also really enjoyed the Enya song while reading this.
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Thank you, Pat, for your kind comments! More to come.
Greatly appreciated your words!
Joanna
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Looking forward to it, Joanna.
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Thank you!
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Hi Joanna -This is such an interesting true story featuring some very eccentric characters! The thing that first caught my eye here was your mention of Dark Sky Island by Enya. Recently I found an article from the Guardian, written by Ian Sample in 2011, about the Isle of Sark in the Channel Islands. The article describes Sark as the world’s first ‘dark sky island’, a place which features stargazing nights and has dark sky policies to keep light pollution at manageable levels. The article is over 10 years old, so hopefully those kinds of things are still in place. I loved reading about Sark so much that I have saved the article on my phone. It was lovely to see the song featured here. Another lovely post, thank you 🙂
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Thank you, Amanda, for your interesting comments! I like the readers additional information which makes my work on the post worthwhile.
Thank you again, Amanda, greatly appreciated.
Joanna
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Yes, and by doing this, we are taken away from our comfort zones .
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This moved me to the edge of my seat Joanna. More so your words and this post’s environment made me little nostalgic for the more innocent days without phone. Less meetings, and more mysteries. What a life, Ransome made me remember me somehow, but he truly felt to be much more adventurous and grounded. Trying, trying even with women till he got it right. Must be like his writings. He kept writing and writing out of love and adventure.
I loved the images and their placements. I found Evgenia beautiful.
Thank you for this deeply intriguing and enchanting post, Joanna.
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Thank you, Narayan, for your wonderful comments! I was delighted with the response of many readers who felt that being surrounded by nature was essential to their wellbeing. I wrote in one of my posts
“When I think of paradise it starts with my garden.” Regrettably, I don’t live close to big lakes but I did visit the place he described so interestingly.
Thank you again, Narayan!
Joanna
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You are blessed my dearest. Thanks again.
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Thank you, Narayan, you are very kind!
Joanna
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Another interesting review, Joanna~ I had not heard of Arthur Ransome before. Sounds like some fun stories for children!
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Thank you, Dwight , for your kind comment. Like many classic books they are for readers of all ages.
Thank you again. Greatly appreciated.
Joanna
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You are welcome!
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Oooh, lovely. The Lake District is one of our favourite places!
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Great article Joanna! Thank you!
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