Swallowdale

CHARACTERS Swallows--John, Susan, Titty, Roger [8 yrs. old] Walker
Amazons--Nancy [Ruth], Peggy Blackett
Captain Flint [Jim Turner]
Polly (parrot), Bridget Walker [3 yrs. old..see Mysteries page], Mother [Mrs Walker], Nurse, Mr & Mrs Jackson (Holly Howe), Mr & Mrs Dixon , Young & Old Billy (charcoal burners), Great Aunt Maria Tuner, (Gibber the monkey), Jack & Bob (& others?) (woodmen), (Peter Duck...at least as far as Titty is concerned!), James & Robert (boatbuilers), Mr Neddy, Mrs & Mary Swainson, Mrs Blackett, (Beckfoot Cook), Jacky (from farm at Watersmeet), (Beckfoot housemaid)
 
SETTING Lake (Swallowdale)
 
TIME 28 July - 13 August 1931
 
BOATS Swallow
Amazon
houseboat
rowboats--Jackson's, Uncle Jim's, Beckfoot
Beckfoot launch
various native craft--steamers, motor boats, rowboats, big yachts, launches
 
TIMELINE

(numbers are days, names are chapter titles)

1

(28 July...see Mysteries page)
The Swallow and Her Crew • Wild Cat Island

2

(29 July)
Horseshoe Cove and the Amazon Pirates • The Able-Seaman and the Boy Explore

3

(30 July)
Captain John Hangs On • Salvage • Captain Flint: Ship's Carpenter • Rio and Holly Howe • Sawinson's Farm • Making the Best Of It

4

(31 July)
The Able-Seaman In Command • Swallowdale

5

(1 August)
Shifting Camp • Settling In

6

(2 August)
Life In Swallowdale

7

(3August)
Life In Swallowdale

8

(4 August)
Life In Swallowdale

9

(5August)
Surprise Attack • Later and Later and Later • Candle-Grease

10

(6August)
No News

11

(7August)
No News

12

(8August)
No News

13

(9August)
Welcome Arrow • Showing the Parrot His Feathers

14

(10August)
Before the March • Overland to the Amazon • The Noon-Tide Owl • Up River • The Half-Way Camp

15

11 August
The Half-Way Camp • The Summit of Kanchenjunga • Fog on the Moor • Wounded Man • Medicine Man • Wigwam Night • Fog on the Lake • The Empty Camp • Stretcher-Party

16

(12August)
Stretcher-Party

17

(13August)
The Race • Wild Cat Island Once Again
 
NOTES • Young Billy is over 70, Old Billy is 94; Jack the woodman is Mary Swainson's beau; The Beckfoot Cook is second cousin to Jack's brother Tom's wife

• The Walkers came up from the South by train on the day before the action in the book starts; Susan always takes charge of things on railway journeys

• Bridget is no longer called Vicky because she no longer looked like Queen Victoria in old age

• Gibber the monkey is at the Zoo for his holidays (presumably London Zoo?)

• The Great Aunt came the day before the Walkers; she brought both Jim Turner and Molly Turner Blackett up when they were young

• Peter Duck is a character made up the previous winter during Christmas holidays spent with Uncle Jim, the Swallows, and the Amazons aboard a wherry

• Roger took swimming lessons over the winter

• All but Roger have holiday tasks to complete--John has Algebra, Susan has Geography, and Titty has French verbs

• Mother has been to New Zealand (she has seen trout there)

• Mention is made of several traditional Lakeland sports--hound trails, guides races, wrestling, pole jumping, sheep-dog trials

• Some places mentioned in Swallowdale: Low End (down by the steamer pier at the foot of the Lake), Longfell Wood, Brockstones (nearby to Swallowdale), Udal Bridge (crosses Amazon River above Lagoon), Watersmeet (where Jacky's farm is), Heald Wood (where the charcoal burners are)

• The Amazons go to boarding school--they say they will not see the Great Aunt if she comes next during term time

• A "cable" is mentioned as a unit of length

• From the summit of Kanchenjunga one can see: the sea, sailing ships (coasting schooners), steamers to Ireland and/or ones working up and down between Liverpool and the Clyde, the Isle of Man 40 miles due west, Scotland (the other side of the Solway Firth, Scawfell, Skiddaw, Helvellyn, Ill Bell, High Street)

• On the summit was found a round brass box from Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 with a Victorian farthing and a slip of paper with "Aug 2nd 1901 climbed Matterhorn Molly Turner J. Turner Bob Blackett" on it (Bob Blackett was Amazon's father)

return to the Guide index