The Picts & the Martyrs or Not Welcome at All

Swallows and Amazons #11

by Arthur Ransome, Gareth Armstrong (Narrator)

After their mother goes off sailing in the North Sea with Captain Flint, the two Blackett sisters find their eagerly awaited solo holiday at the lakeside interrupted by a visit from Great Aunt. They are forced to hide their friends in the woods and dress up in white pinafores to placate their demanding aunt.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Classics, Adventure, Young Adult, Juvenile, 20th Century

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Arthur Michell Ransome (January 18, 1884 – June 3, 1967) was an English author and journalist. He was educated in Windermere and Rugby.

In 1902, Ransome abandoned a chemistry degree to become a publisher's office boy in London. He used this precarious existence to practice writing, producing several minor works before Bohemia in London (1907), a study of London's artistic scene and his first significant book.

An interest in folklore, together with a desire to escape an unhappy first marriage, led Ransome to St. Petersburg, where he was ideally placed to observe and report on the Russian Revolution. He knew many of the leading Bolsheviks, including Lenin, Radek, Trotsky and the latter's secretary, Evgenia Shvelpina. These contacts led to persistent but unproven accusations that he "spied" for both the Bolsheviks and Britain.

Ransome married Evgenia and returned to England in 1924. Settling in the Lake District, he spent the late 1920s as a foreign correspondent and highly-respected angling columnist for the Manchester Guardian, before settling down to write Swallows and Amazons and its successors.

Today Ransome is best known for his Swallows and Amazons series of novels, (1931 - 1947). All remain in print and have been widely translated.

Arthur Ransome died in June 1967 and is buried at Rusland in the Lake District.

Reviews

[Tharindu Dissanayake · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Jibbooms, bobstays and battleaxes,"
"Don't be a butter-brained galoot,"

Given how much G.A. has been mentioned over the S&A, since her debut in Swallowadale, I was actually whether she'll return to one of the stories. But I did not expect this much - to have an entire story narrated around her.

' "Cook!" she called. "Cooky! The most awful thing has happenned..." '

Now, despite the swallows being left out the story again, I have to say that this is one of my favorites of the series. Of course, with Blackett's it's always fun, but the D's are complementing this one very nicely.

' "Nancy," said the doctor. "You are the most dangerous animal ever let loose in this world." '

Again, the author is fully successful in narrating an adventure, that will not give you even a hint of repetition. Only sad thing is, there's only one book after this.

"NOW, look here, Peggy. Don't be a tame galoot. All you've got to do is to keep quiet."

"Great snakes and crocodiles,"

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently Evgenia, Mrs Ransome, didn't like this one at all. I really can't understand why: this is probably my favourite of the series, even though it lacks the Swallows. Perfectly paced, beautifully plotted, and back in the Lakes. What's not to like?

I have also always thought that this is the one that ought to be dramatised. I can see why TV and film-makers go for Swallows and Amazons (it's the first) and Coot Club (better plot than Swallows and Amazons) but this one would be much better because it's a smaller cast of child characters and a much bigger cast of (often entertaining) adult characters. Cook, Timothy, the doctor, the postman, Col Jolys, PC Lewthwaite, Mary Swainson, the boatbuilder ... and of course, the formidable, the wonderful, Great Aunt Maria.

Great Aunt Maria is, of course, what a grown-up Nancy would have become had she been born 60 or so years earlier, with no possibility of piracy or wearing shorts. So the GA does exactly what Nancy does - swans in, takes charge, and puts everybody firmly in their place. It's brilliant. Nancy, meanwhile, is playing the role initially of hostess, and later (after the GA arrives) dutiful great-niece: no piracy at all. Nancy manages to maintain this charade with all the aplomb she brings to part-time piracy and this is highly entertaining.

Meanwhile, Dick and Dot find themselves playing a 10-day long game of hide and seek while learning new skills such as trout-guddling, rabbit-skinning, burgling, and how to hoist and lower the sail of their new boat. There is just enough technical sailing detail - not too much, Ransome gets the balance exactly right - and most of the time is spent on dry land, or in the company of landlubbers such as Cook and Timothy. And I love Dot, I really do - her worrying about being in charge of the housekeeping, her habit of translating her current situation into the title of a novel as a way of making sense of it.

I also love that I can't work out which is older, Dick or Dot. Maybe they're twins. But then you would have thought they would have mentioned this when they met Port and Starboard. I think I'm going to have to say Dick is older because he assumes the captaincy of Scarab, and I wouldn't like this just to be because he's the boy. Although he is entitled to be captain on merit, given that he has actually tried to learn how to sail, and Dot hasn't. It's difficult.

Anyway, these are real, and beautifully-drawn, characters, and there simply aren't enough superlatives for this book. Ransome really doesn't put a foot wrong and he knows what makes a good story. It isn't the five weeks of the holidays which are still in front of them at the end of the book - those weeks will be fun, no doubt, but day after day of sailing and camping doesn't in itself make a gripping read. No, it's the ten days in which the Amazons' plans are completely turned upside down, and in which there is a desperate need to keep Dick and Dot hidden - it's that period, and the way everything is so neatly tied up at the end of it, that makes a good story.

[Melissa McShane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't love all the books in this series equally, but this one is right up near the top. Dick and Dorothea Callum, whose parents have commissioned a little sailboat for them, have come to stay with Nancy and Peggy Blackett for a week or so before their parents follow. Mrs. Blackett, having been very ill with influenza, has been ordered to take a rest, so she and her brother Jim "Captain Flint" Turner are off sailing the Scandinavian coast. The girls (ages aren't given, but I suspect Nancy is about 16) are going to stay by themselves with their cook's supervision, and everything is ready to go--until the Blacketts' great-aunt Maria Turner finds out that Mrs. Blackett has LEFT THEM ALONE with NO SUPERVISION and in true officious great-aunt manner shows up to run things. The problem? She doesn't know the Callums have been invited to stay, and if she finds out Mrs. Blackett approved of TOTAL STRANGERS staying over while she, Mrs. Blackett, was not there to supervise, the G.A. will make Nancy and Peggy's mom miserable.

The obvious solution is either for the Callums to go back home until Mrs. Blackett returns, or for them to tell the G.A. everything. But if Nancy is involved, no such tame solutions are allowed. No, of course the thing to do is to hide Dick and Dorothea in an old hut in the forest and convince the G.A. that Nancy and Peggy are perfect angels so she won't browbeat their mother. What follows is a comedy of errors in which adults who ought to know better are sucked into the conspiracy, and which ends with a missing person hunt (that has a surprising resolution).

I think the whole comedy of errors thing is what appeals to me. The kids are on the verge of being found out multiple times, and Ransome balances this nicely. I will never forget the image of Nancy mowing a message into the lawn to warn Dick and Dorothea away--and then coolly mowing over the whole thing, all under the G.A.'s nose.

The big problem, though, is the resolution of the story, and here I think Ransome was looking at it the wrong way. In the end, the G.A. leaves without ever having learned the secret, thus saving Mrs. Blackett. But the G.A. is terrible. She's the sort of terrible that demands comeuppance. I really, really wanted her to be confronted with how awful she is. But that doesn't happen. Everything she does, including dump a lot of carefully-gathered scientific samples out the window of the houseboat, goes unpunished. (The samples turn out to have been analyzed already, and the data recorded, so it's no big deal in the end.) I am not sure Ransome realized just how wicked a witch he was creating, because I get the sense that he genuinely believed it mattered more that the kids get away with the scheme than that we get that emotional resolution.

Having now listened to this one and Swallows and Amazons, I'm thinking I might round out this trip down Memory Lane with my other favorite, We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea. The narrator, Alison Larkin, continues to excel, and I believe I will hear the voice of the G.A. in my nightmares.

[Rosemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific read!

[Ali Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just perfect. Reminds you of human decency and goodness. And fun most of all. Nancy remains my role model. I rarely live up to her standards but one can continue trying. This will bolster me against a trying week ahead.

[Allison Tebo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely smashing.

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 4 out of 5]

...and that's the last one! Another adventurous family listen with fun twists and satisfying British characters. It's kind of sad to reach the end of this early 1900's lake-country series that has accompanied so many family evenings and car rides over the past few years.

The whole situation of this book simply would not happen today, between communication technology and lifestyle patterns - the modern idea of "stop trying to please the toxic person in your life" is turned on its head for the contemporary reader caught up in the tight-knit community life of the story The ethical(lite) problems of the story give food for thought. And it's suspenseful - very fun!

[Emma Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished re-reading this book and it is one of my favourites from Ransome’s world. In my opinion, this book shows Ransome’s gift for characterisation at its best.

The themes are gentle but so entertaining and well written. The number of near misses keeps you on the edge of your seat when you consider whether the Great Aunt will catch the Picts.

I just loved the interplay of the characters, the Blacketts, The Callum’s, Timothy, Great Aunt Maria, poor old Cook - this book is so well paced and so entertaining. I think it’s a true under appreciated gem!

One of my all time favourites!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the next book of the series, Amazons Nancy and Peggy are very excited to have been left on their own at home along with guests Dorothy and Dick. But when the dreaded Great-Aunt hears the news, she decides her presence is required, and the Amazons come up with an unlikely scheme to keep her happy and to hide their guests. I was dubious about the premise of this story, but it ended up being one of my favorites as Dorothy and Dick get their new sail boat and camp in an old stone house while the Amazons on their best behavior provide a bit of humor.

[Jonathan Palfrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the best book of the series, although it’s not typical: the Walkers (Swallows) are absent, and the Blacketts (Amazons) are greatly constrained by the presence of their formidable Great Aunt (Miss Maria Turner), leaving much of the story to the two Callums (Dorothea and Dick: the Ds), who entered the series in book 4.

However, the only really typical book in the series is Swallows and Amazons, after which Ransome experimented with one variation after another. I don’t really miss the Swallows here; they’re fine in a story that suits them, but the Amazons and Ds are actually more lively and interesting as characters.

The main theme of this story could be described as “O, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive!” Although the neat thing about it is that the deception is all done with the best of intentions.

What makes this one the best of the series for me is the plot, which is more complex than usual, and makes use of a variety of adult characters as well as the four children (plus another child, Jacky Warriner, who makes a guest appearance).

The Ds were invited to stay at Beckfoot with the Amazons. However, when the Great Aunt arrives uninvited, the Ds find themselves living secretly (as Picts) in a hut in the woods for ten days.

The hut has a fireplace but no bathroom; it has a stream outside in which they can wash their faces, hands, and plates, but as far as I can tell they live for ten days without a bath, a change of clothes, or the use of a water closet—and no-one who knows what they’re doing (including various adults) seems to think this is a problem. Nor do they comment on it themselves, although the Ds are city children, not accustomed to camping out. Well, the book was published in the early 1940s. “The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.”

The story ends well with an excellent turn of the plot, and the departure of the Great Aunt. The Swallows are expected to arrive soon; with five weeks of the summer holidays still to go, there’s ample space for several more books. Ransome probably anticipated writing at least one further book to fill that gap, but alas, he never did; probably discouraged by his wife’s criticism.

There is a small puzzle about the date of first publication of this book. Most sources say 1943, but my paperback copy (bought in England in 1979) says 1942.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the very best of his books but better than most that other people write. He has a magical gift for taking you there, showing you the world though the eyes of people you are nothing like (except I hope, in kindness, concern and a lively interest in the natural world), interesting you in things that might otherwise pass you by, and bringing it all to life in a story that Jake Thackray might describe as "a good tale, a little improbable, but a good tale". The magic lies in merging the improbability with the engaging realism.
Ransome would definitely be a guest of mine at that improbable dinner party that everyone else is going to drag Gandhi, Oscar Wilde and Peter Ustinov out of heaven or hell to attend. I've a tin of tobacco and a pipe ready!

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the most fun of all the Swallows and Amazons books. We miss the original fam of John and Susan and Roger and Titty, but good fun is had by Dick and Dot, and of course Peggy and Nancy, and a jolly cast of other characters, most notably including the dreaded Great Aunt, or GA, whose long shadow of fear covers nine tenths of the book. Arthur Ransome is one of the few authors who wades successfully into the murky waters of spin-off books and makes them work.

[Tena Edlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just love this whole series of books. I wish I had grown up with them, but at least I've found them as an adult. My fiancé read me this one out loud, and his G.A. voice is just the best.

[Ellie Bach · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite out of the series

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant, exciting, fun and satisfying. The only downside was the Swallows weren’t in it. It was fun to have bits of memories from earlier books sprinkled throughout. A fun plot and very enjoyable.

[Matthew Pennell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last in the series, which I don't think I'd read before. A bit plodding for most of the book, but it was saved by a breathless ending you couldn't have seen coming.

[manka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sice mi už dlouho není deset, ale Vlaštovky a Amazonky jsou pořád moje srdcovka. I bez Vlaštovek. I s pratetou. I když je tahle knížka vlastně dost odlišná od většiny ostatních. Protože i dneska bych se chtěla plavit po jezeře a tábořit na ostrově Divokých koček.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Do you really think she is going to make it very awful?" said Dorothea.
"Pretty awful, I expect," said Peggy. "She usually does."

Dick, Dorothea, and the Amazons expect a blissful time of adventures and sailing while Nancy and Peggy's Mother and Uncle Jim are away, but when the Amazons GA (Great Aunt) decides she needs to come to oversea things, all their hopes are dashes. They hide Dick and Dorothea away in a little hut so the GA doesn't see them. They live as Picts, while Nancy and Peggy act as Martyrs to please their aunt. But things take an unexpected turn.

This was slow through about 3/4 of the book. I enjoy Dick and Dorothea's personalities, but there didn't seem much going on. The end was more interesting as everyone searches for the Great Aunt. I had a few laughs at Captain Jolys, in charge of the firefighters in the district, and all his tooting horns.

I wanted to give this four stars because of the end, but I think I'll go with 3.5 stars. Even my 12 year old brother didn't like it as much compared to the others in the series. Looking forward to Great Northern? A Scottish Adventure of Swallows & Amazons next.

[Steve Johgart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another gentle but exciting adventure in the "Swallows and Amazons" series from the 1930s, taking place in the Lake District of England. This book doesn't involve the Swallows except in mention - it's a story of the Amazons and the D's (who become the Scarabs in this book). The book involves the Scarabs learning survival living while pretending not to exist so that the Great-Aunt of the Amazons doesn't discover them, and the Amazons learning a whole different kind of survival attempting to be genteel little women in order to prevent the Great-Aunt from becoming suspicious. There is, of course, a good bit of sailing. The book introduces a fascinating and fun new character, Jacky, but since this is the second-to-last book in the series, we unfortunately will not have much of a chance to get better acquainted with him. As always with Ransome's books, it is filled with the imagination and inventiveness that children are so good at. Highly recommended for grade 5 (when I read it originally) and above, all the way to old coots like me.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure why I keep going back and re-re-reading Arthur Ransome's kid's books... because they're good I guess. They're set in the English Lake Country (mostly) in the 1920s (I think) and the adventures revolve around sailing and camping. In this one, a horrible old maiden aunt makes trouble for the kids, and they in turn plot deviously to foil her. It's not my absolute fave in the series, but it's entertaining and there is a nice plot twist at the end. One thing I love about the series is the (no doubt sentimental and romanticized) picture of the Lake District locals--they are unsophisticated but by no means dumb.
Very John Ford, if you know what I mean.

[Prapti Panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I flew through this one - this year has been full of firsts, and this was my first book by Ransome. This is a part of a long standing series though, but I loved reading this as a standalone. The story reminded me so much of my childhood - I always wanted to camp out and sail my own boat!

This book was full of adventures and I loved the Great Aunt's exaggerated evil character - that is one of my favorite tropes in children's fiction, which I enjoyed most in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken.

Ransome's past is itself an interesting story - his involvement with the Bolsheviks is infinitely adventurous. Definitely also worth reading.

[Kate H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome was one of my favorite series. When I decided to re-read it as an adult I was worried that it would not stand the test of time. I was delighted to find that in general found it just as enjoyable now as I did as a child. The characters, writing style and adventures are great and I truly enjoyed the series.

[Stephen Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourites of the series, even though the Swallows don't feature. I always wonder if things couldn't have been done better by the martyrs, especially the need for the burglary, but there is always entertainment here as we are transported to the adventures of a different world.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, what utter British Children's Lit perfection. One of my favorites so far! Just the perfect adventure with all the fun and secrets kids love.

[Gavin Felgate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the penultimate full Swallows and Amazons novel by Arthur Ransome, and revolves around Nancy, Peggy, Dick and Dorothea. The Swallows do not appear at all, although they are mentioned frequently (it also is evident that they are about to visit at the end, presumably a set up for the next book).

Nancy and Peggys' great aunt has been mentioned in at least one previous book, but has not been given much to do before this title. Here, she invites herself to babysit for the Amazon girls while their mother is away. However, Nancy and Peggy are none too pleased, partly because they had Dick and Dorothea visiting, and also because their aunt insists that they wear frocks, which does not meet the approval of the girls, both tomboys who like to pretend they are pirates. The aunt also calls them Ruth (Nancy's real name, mentioned briefly in the very first book), and Margaret.

So, Nancy and Peggy hide Dick and Dorothea out in "The Dog's Home" nearby to stop the great aunt discovering them, and have to keep sneaking out to spend time with them. Nancy and Peggy are the martyrs of the title, having to yield to everything their great aunt wants, while Dick and Dorothea are the picts.

There is another recurring character, "Squashy Hat" from "Pigeon Post", now known by his real name of Timothy (I never really good a good idea as to his age; I always pictured him as a middle aged or older man, though I could be very wrong). He gets more to do towards the end of the book.

Overall, I enjoyed this more than the previous two titles; I managed not to miss the Swallows, mostly because of Nancy and Peggy (I love Nancy's catchphrase, "Jibbooms and bobstays", which she uses frequently). The book ended up taking a turn that I didn't expect at all towards the end, and my opinion of the great aunt definitely changed between the start and the end of the book.

I hope to read the last full Swallows and Amazons book, "Great Northern?", soon.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing to read this series with my son and we are nearing the end. We enjoyed this one though. It doesn't have the Swallows but the Amazons and the D's are here and the formidable Great Aunt (or G.A) arrives to spoil their fun while their Mother is away. As a result the Amazons have to act like perfect children to please their Aunt while the D's hide away from sight like the Picts, who were thought to be extinct but persisted by living in caves etc. (I think maybe historians don't think this any more).

There is a nice mix of time on land and sea, of survival skills vs painful domestic torture, and adult as well as children characters. There probably isn't as much dramatic adventure as some of the other stories but it is still good fun and there is a dramatic fake burglary and an unexpected end involving the G.A. There is also none of the casual racism that taints some of the other books in the series which has made for uncomfortable reading at times.

Overall another good addition to the series, which is a bit more comedic and less adventurous than some of the other stories, and is an enjoyable tale where we get to meet the fearsome Great Aunt (who was mentioned but never really been in the earlier books properly).

[Dave Appleby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dick and Dorothea are staying with Nancy and Peggy, the Amazons, at Beckfoot. But the Great Aunt comes to visit and she mustn't know the Ds are staying so they go to camp in an old hut in the woods, learning to tickle trout and to skin and cook a rabbit. Meanwhile Timothy is staying in Captain Flint's houseboat and needs Dick to burgle Beckfoot to get important chemicals. In many ways this is one of Ransome's best: the story-telling is mature and he spins a classic adventure yarn from a simple summer holiday. As always the characters are perfect, with the portrayal of Nancy being at its best. You even empathise with the Great-Aunt before the end.

And one of the wonderful things about Ransome is that he never talks down to his audience. This is a children's book: "I'll just hoist the sail for you. You take the halliard through the ring in the bows and it acts as a forestay. Up she goes. Sorry, Dick. Your head was in the wrong place. Spectacles all right? Make fast to this cleat. Then bowse down the tackle to cock the yard. Just till there are up and down ripples in the sail." (Ch 15)

[Andy Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in The Swallows and Amazons series that I have read (so I am reading out of order in other words). It didn't matter too much but there are some intriguing references to the previous adventures in Pigeon Post that makes me want to read that. As with S&A the suspense is largely created by the children's imaginations but it is no worse for that. In this tale, brother and sister house guests of the Amazons go into hiding at the arrival of a slightly ferocious great aunt - lots of sailing action on the Lakes follows on, there's a fake burglary and some of the local adults are drawn into the shenanigans. I really liked it - great characters, particularly the children. A brief word on gender - I though this was a great book for girls and boys. 3 of the adventurous, imaginative children are girls and I would recommend it for fathers to read to their daughters. That said, it's a 1940s novel and there are occasions with the brother and sister characters in particular where the sister is first to take on the cooking and, certainly in their case, the brother is the more cerebral one who wants to be the scientist when he is full grown.

[C. Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Swallows & Amazons series just keeps getting better and better. This one is very tightly plotted, with the young people very realistic, and all sorts of moral dilemmas. One also learns a lot about sailing. When the feared Great Aunt, first seen in "Swallowdale," arrives unwelcome at the home of the Amazons, Nancy and Peggy become "martyrs," having to endure her efforts to turn them into refined young ladies, while, for reasons that make sense at the time, Dick and Dot have to hide in the woods as "Picts," going into hiding to elude the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons.

The book is about the efforts to keep the Picts secret while also letting them sail their very first own boat. One things leads to another, many adults are involved -- but I won't give away the fun. Even though this was originally published in the 1930s, the young people for whom it was written and adults can enjoy it with no problem. (There are some things that strike one now as odd: unpasteurized milk, no seatbelts, no life jackets in the boat, garbage tossed in the lake, no cell phones, burglars being a minor concern. These just place the story in its time.)

[Martyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's nearly three years since I last read The Picts and the Martyrs. At the time I questioned how well the Arthur Ransome books would bear up to re-reading, and I know now that they can stand up to it perfectly well. His books have gained themselves an established place in my affections so that I do regard them as favourites. I like his characters, I like the atmosphere, and I even like his long-winded and leisurely manner of story-telling. In spite of the size of the books they are engaging and reading them doesn't feel like a hardship or test of endurance. Once you start it is easy to keep going. Looking at the books on a shelf brings one a sense of satisfaction, and of anticipation, a sense of pleasure, of something to look forward to. I've got a complete set in hardback, most of them with dust jackets, several of them first editions. They look good and they are associated with very pleasurable memories. Not just yet, but after the lapse of a reasonable period of time, I look forward to reading the entire series again, and finally reading it in the correct chronological order.