Posted by Ed Kiser on March 20, 2006 at 03:31:31 from 152.163.101.7 user Kisered.
At the very beginning in Winter Holiday, it is disclosed that Mrs. Dixon used to be the nurse that took care of the D's mother when she was a little girl.
When the mumps hit Nancy, Mrs. Dixon also told of the time that the D's mother had mumps and had to have a bandage around the jaws of her doll to pretend it had the mumps also.
We do not know the maiden name of the D's mother. She married the man named Callum who was professionally interested in digging up ruins of ancient times. They lived in London when not away on a dig. So the D's grew up in London, much to the dismay of the S&A's who felt that people should not be allowed to grow up in big cities.
The concept that got my attention is that the D's grandparents, who were the parents of the D's mother, apparently were native inhabitants of the Lake. What that name was, we'll never know. But it would seem that the Blackett's would know of that family from the previous generation as being local to the Lake area, yet it seems that the D's were regarded as outsiders, probably because that current generation (the D's) were city kids, growing up in London. But as they became acquainted, and with Mrs. Dixon knowing the D's mother as a child, it would seem that somebody of that older generation (Jacksons, or Blacketts perhaps) would have known of that family there at the lake, and probably may have known the child that was later to become the D's mother. Their father, Callum, may not have been from that area so was not a known name by the elder locals. The D's parents probably met away from the Lake, perhaps when at school.
The Walkers were just visitors at the Lake. Mrs. Walker apparently was from Australia, so was definitely not a local product. Where Ted Walker grew up is unstated. The Walkers, being just recent visitors, and with the Blacketts actually living there in Beckfoot, it seems that with the D's family history, they may have more of a claim to be "local" than the Walkers, although just not a "recent local."
Who would have thought it.
Perhaps the maiden name of the D's mother is not important. We'll never know who they were, nor where at the Lake they used to live.
For that matter, the Map does not show where Rattletrap's driver, Billy Lewthwaite, lives, but it is within easy walking distance of Beckfoot.
Apparently Ransome thought it was not needed for us to know.
But Beckfoot does have a bathroom.
Ed Kiser, South Florida