Posted by Magnus Smith on March 13, 2012 at 05:56:40 user Magnus.
In Reply to: Re: Coot Club dedication posted by Roger Wardale on March 12, 2012 at 19:34:36:
Ah, so it was the other way around! Sorry to raise a false alarm Roger.
I am convinced this 'skipper of the Titmouse' must have been a real person, since the dedications in all the other books were real....except for Peter Duck, but that is in keeping with the notes about the illustrations etc.
S&A - The Altounyans
Swallowdale - Elizabeth Abercrombie
Peter Duck - "Mrs Robert Blackett & Mrs E H R Walker"
Winter Holiday - Clan McEoch
Coot Club - skipper of Titmouse
Big Six - Margaret and Charles Renold
WDMTGTS - Mrs Henry Clay
Pigeon Post - Oscar Gnosspelius
Secret Water - Busk family
Missee Lee - Herbert J Hanson
Picts & Martyrs - Aunt Helen
Great Northern? - Myles North
Does that seem a reasonable assumption?
In that case, we are left to consider whether it was someone AR actually knew (but then, why not mention them explicitly?) or just a boat he saw in passing and admired some aspect of (maybe it was just the name).
Could it be like the brief mention of seeing two girls playing by the lake shore in red caps? Someone spotted for a moment, who triggered something in the author's mind.