Posted by Andy Morley on 09/03/00 from 62.136.73.251 via proxy webcache16b.cache.pol.co.uk:
In Reply to: Re: More about Pauline Marshall, Broadcast and Memoirs... posted by Adam Quinan on September 03, 2000 at 02:35:54:
> Arguments about whether or not Pauline Marshall and her
> sister "are" or "aren't" a model for the Amazon pirates,
> it seems to me, should be perfectly allowable TARS
> topics.
They may be perfectly allowable, but are not in themselves
very interesting. Like "where was the 'real' Swallowdale?"
these topics have been done to death. Most writers base
their characters on real people, in composite form. Most
are wise enough not to reveal the names of those people, at
least not in the startling way that Ransome did. The
circumstances of Georgie and Pauline's presence when Ransome
was in Coniston, their resemblance to the Amazons, Ransome's
relationship with their father and a wealth of other detail
makes it impossible to reasonably discount the fact that
they were an important influence on the development of the
characters of Nancy and Peggy.
What is more interesting as a story in its own right is the
effect that this very startling identification of fictional
characters with real children had on all those involved.
You could base a novel on that story. It is still unfolding,
and we are playing a part in it, in our discussion, here and now.
> What is disturbing is the implication that some
> TARS people don't seem to want to even consider the
> possibilities. As we can't ask Ransome how much of whom
> he put into his books, to dismiss any opinion on the
> originals is somewhat cavalier to say the least.
> Examination of the evidence provided can give us some
> clues as to the probability of any such claim, but to
> suppress discussion and presentation of the arguments is
> not productive.
I've said before all that I want to on the mania for censorship
both in TARS and the wider Ransome arena. It's interesting to
a point to consider why Ransome seems to have had this effect
on people, but I suggest that we leave that to one side for now.
> As in most Ransome attributions, of people, boats or
> places, there is probably some truth in the assertions
> on both sides. Whether AR incorporated Pauline and her
> sister into the books in some form is probably
> impossible to prove definitively either way. The Rawdon-
> Smiths may well have been used as models for the
> Blacketts, though apparently there is not the same
> detailed objective evidence available to demonstrate the
> connection as there is with the Altounyans. The
> Altounyans were not identical to the Walkers, though the
> use of their names and the original dedication would
> seem to point to a pretty sure thing!
I think that one of the characteristics of Ransome's readers
is the fierce and highly possessive relationship that many of
them seem to have with the stories he wrote. They are an
integral part of many people's childhood. The more gregarious
of them overcome such emotions and manage to participate
successfully in organisations such as TARS. However, it must
be traumatic for some of them when they first discover that
their childhood heroes are based on real human beings with all
the characteristics of real people, warts and all.
Because Ransome used the names of four of the Altounyans for
the Swallows, it is impossible to deny that particular
connection. The response to this has been to elevate the Altounyans
to the status of a quasi royal family amongst
Ransome fans, thus safely removing them from common-or-garden
situations where they might demonstrate that they are human
like the rest of us, which might jar with people's views on how
they 'ought' to behave, based on their fictional personae.
However, people can only find room for one royal family, to have
a number of them would be rather inconvenient. Life would
become dominated by bowing and scraping. So where the
connection
between originals and Ransome's characters has not been spelt
out in this way, many of his more avid devotees have gone to
the opposite extreme and sought to deny its existence at all.
This too is part of the story I mentioned, and its effects are
the content of that 'poisoned chalice' that is the darker side
of Ransome's legacy.
Oh dear, I'm making this all sound rather black and dramatic,
so let's talk about boats:
> The original
> Swallow is missing, Mavis/Amazon still exists and was
> known to be on the spot and involved in the sailing
> activities of the Altounyans. Beetle is no longer
> available for examination (do photographs exist?) so can
> it be objectively shown that she was nearer to Ransome's
> drawings of Amazon than Mavis? .
Pauline Marshall sailed the Beetle extensively as child. She
has photographs and also recalls the layout very well. I
shall be collating this material and putting it elsewhere on
the Web just as soon as I can find the time.
Regards,
Andy Morley