Yesterday I read The Picts and the Martyrs, one of twelve “Swallows and Amazons” books written by Arthur Ransome between 1929 and 1947. The “Swallows” are the nickname for the children from the Walker Family and the “Amazons” refer to the two Blackett girls, Peggy and Nancy, and the Ransome books chronicle their very grand adventures in the country side of England and beyond (on up to the North Pole and along to the South Seas). These are great books for middle-schoolers to read over summer break and for younger kids to share with parents. I recommend starting with the first in the series, Swallows and Amazons, and going on with Swallowdale, Pigeon Post, Secret Water, and then The Picts and the Martyrs.
In The Picts and The Martyrs, Nancy and Peggy (the “Amazons”) have been left on their own while their mother goes on holiday to recuperate from an illness. Friends Dick and Dorothea are invited to come stay and all kinds of camping and sailing adventures have been planned. But then bad news: Great Aunt has heard of their “abandonment” and is coming to stay with the girls. To protect the good name of their mother, the Blackett girls must prove they are well-behaved enough to have been entrusted on their own — and so all adventures are put on the back burner and friends Dick and Dorothea must be hidden off in a old cabin. Dick and Dorothea become the “picts”, ancient Brits that went underground to survive, and Nancy and Peggy become “martyrs”, doomed to lady-like behavior for the duration of the visit of the feared and loathed “G.A”. (Great Aunt).
The novel is a combination of hilarity and inspiring activity. These kids are whizzes at pursuing adventure, no matter what obstacles are placed in their way, and they are the true counterpoint to kids used to parental helicoptering. Defiant of adult intervention, Nancy, Peggy, Dick, and Dorothea take care of themselves and although the course they set is not always wise, it is always spirited and done at full-blast, including engineering a necessary burglary, preparing a safe harbor among reeds and water lilies for a boat that must remain hidden from G.A., and preparing a decrepit cabin for habitation. Ransome is known for his practical details on how to get things done, and this novel includes specifics on how to sail, how to catch trout with your hands, and how to skin a rabbit (not easily).
The kids in the novel are gutsy and intelligent, eager for adventure but also mindful of the needs of each other and of the adults who care for them. They even come to understand that the G.A. is not so bad (“You know the funny thing about people is they always think they’re doing right“) and that she has some guts and gumption worth admiring. And one thing these kids do admire is guts and gumption.
Ransome was the J.K. Rowling of his time, both in terms of popularity and in the length of his books. As enchanting as Harry Potter is, I have to say I like the Ransome adventures better. Some of his plots veer off into the impossible but for the most part, the “Swallows and Amazons” adventures are about real kids who have real fun all on their own, no magic needed.
