They succeed in attracting the laird's attention and eventually in explaining what is going on, and his conviction is reinforced by the sound of a gunshot, which angers the laird and alters his view. While trying to distract Jemmerling and his employee, the children and Captain Flint are rounded up by the ghillies (gamekeepers or gamewardens) of the local laird (called "The McGinty") and locked in a barn. Complicating the matter is a misunderstanding with the local Scottish inhabitants or Gaels who are mostly Gaelic speaking, and believe that their visitors have been sent by rival landowners to spoil the deer-shooting (the local livelihood) by driving the deer from their traditional breeding grounds.
Hence they try to protect the birds while gathering photographic evidence of their nesting. Mr Jemmerling, the expert whom they consult, turns out to be a deadly enemy of the birds, as he collects birds' eggs and stuffed skins of birds. The question arises whether it is a great northern diver, which has never been known to nest in the British Isles, or a black-throated diver. While the older members of the party clean Sea Bear, before returning her to the owner, the younger ones explore inland and a mysterious bird is seen nesting on an island in a loch. The Swallows, Amazons and Ds are all on a sailing cruise with Captain Flint in the Outer Hebrides. Tambs's account of the voyage, The Cruise of the "Teddy", was published in 1933, with a foreword by Ransome. The fictional cutter Sea Bear in the story is based on Teddy, the vessel sailed by Norwegian writer and sailor Erling Tambs from Oslo to the South Seas in 1928. Ransome also made a visit to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides for a fishing trip and to research the area as the setting for the book.
He also supplied the famous phrase "What's hit's history: what's missed's mystery". This book is set in the Outer Hebrides and the two familiar Ransome themes of sailing and ornithology come to the fore.įor this story, Ransome was inspired by an adult fan, Myles North, an avid birdwatcher who wrote a letter to Ransome which supplied a detailed outline of much of the basic plot. In this book, the three families of major characters in the series, the Swallows (the Walker family), the Amazons (the Blackett sisters) and the Ds (the two Callums), are all reunited in a book for the first time since Pigeon Post. Great Northern? is the twelfth and final completed book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books.
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