Secret Water
From Arthur Ransome Wiki
- This article is about the book Secret Water. For the waterway of this name, see Secret Archipelago.
Secret Water is the eighth book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1939.
This book is set in late August or early September 1932, towards the end of the summer holidays (immediately following We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea and located in and around Hamford Water in Essex, close to the resort town of Walton-on-the-Naze. It brings the Swallows and the Amazons together and introduces a new group of characters, the Eels.
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[edit] Source
Ransome used to sail to Hamford Water, an area of salt marshes and low lying islands in his yacht Nancy Blackett. He set the book in this tidal location which offered a new setting for his characters and opportunities to explore and map the area. (The names Hamford and Walton are not used in the text.)
[edit] Characters
- Swallows (John, Susan, Titty, Roger [9 yrs. old], Bridget [4 yrs. old] Walker plus Sinbad the kitten)
- Amazons (Nancy, Peggy Blackett)
- Mastodon (Don)
- remainder of the Eels (Daisy, Dum, Dee)
- minor characters:
- Cmdr Ted Walker, Mrs Mary Walker
- Miss Powell
- farmer from the Native Kraal
- Missionaries (parents of Daisy, Dum and Dee)
- the Witch
- George the seal
[edit] Boats
Wizard, Firefly, Goblin, Lapwing, Mastadon's small brown rowboat and hulk Speedy, the 3 tiny sailing dinghies of the Eels.
[edit] Plot summary
The Swallows intend to sail in the Goblin to Hamford Water and camp with their father Ted Walker, but he is called away on naval business. Instead he maroons them with a small dinghy on an island. Before he leaves he gives them an outline map of the area, which they decide to call Secret Water, and suggests they survey and chart the area before he returns to pick them up. For a surprise, he has arranged for the Amazons to come down from their home at the Lake and join them with another dinghy.
They see some mysterious footprints which turn out to belong to the Mastodon, a local boy. He mistakes them for the Eels, another family who camp in the area regularly. The Swallows and Amazons form an alliance with the Mastodon, becoming blood brothers and sisters with him. Later the Eels arrive and are initially hostile before they settle down for a friendly war.
It seems that due to the distractions of war and being cut off by the tides, the chart will not be completed, but at the very last minute, it is.
[edit] Cross-references and chronology
References to other books in the Swallows and Amazons series place Secret Water after Pigeon Post (set at the very beginning of the summer holiday) and We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea (set in August ref req ); therefore in late August or early September 1932:
- The Amazons and the Ds now have Timothy to walk the plank (SW1)
- Jim Brading has gone to be in the care of his aunt (SW1)
- The Swallows came from Holland quite lately (SW9)
- The Swallows "...never set things on fire... We nearly got burnt once." (Roger, SW9)
[edit] Timeline
Numbers are days (but not actual dates) in late August or early September 1932, names are chapter titles tide times for some days given in (parentheses), with references.
Interregnum between WD and SW: John damages his watch and sends it to Ipswich for repair (SW5); Jim Brading has gone to be in the care of his aunt (SW1); Goblin's lost anchor and chain have apparently been recovered or replaced (SW3, SW31).
- Farewell to Adventure
- Adventure Ahead, Into the Unknown, The Expedition Goes Ashore, Marooned
- First Hint of Savages, Hoofmarks in the Mud, The Mastadon's Lair, Making a Friend of a Savage, The Straits of Magellan, War or Exploration
- (low tide about 10, high tide at 3.36, SW12) Blood and Iodine, Mastodon Island, Witch's Quay, The Mastadon Wishes He Hadn't
- (high tide about 4.30pm, SW16) Enemy's Country
- A State of War, Eager Prisoner, Hot on the Trail, All's Well
- Six Boats Explore, The Mastodon Gives a Party
- (high water before 8am, low water about 2pm, SW23) Red Sea Crossing: Israelites, Civilization, Sinbad's Creek, Red Sea Crossing: Egyptians, Rescue and After, Corroboree
- (high water slack close on 9am) Packing Up, Northwest Passage, Farewell to the Eels
After: The Walker family hope to meet the Lapwings next holidays and invite them to Shotley where the Walkers will now be living (SW31).
[edit] Notes
- the Ds have gone home from the Lake, called away to join parents (SW1)
- Timothy Stedding and Captain Flint are at the Lake (SW1)
- Roger & Titty got their life saving certificates at school in summer term at school, John and Susan got theirs the year before
- Don (Mastodon) is bigger than Roger but not as big as John
- The Lapwings came around from Colnsea (SW9)
- The Amazons stayed with their Aunt Helen in London before travelling to the Secret Archipelago (SW11)
- Peggy tells what happened at High Topps after Swallows had gone south: what they did to Timothy and the Dsdeparture to the south [to Norfolk perhaps?] (SW11).
- Nancy makes an historical reference in suggesting the name Walker Expedition for the Secret Archipelago Expedition: see Wikipedia:Walker Expedition to Quebec
- Amazons referred to as two females by the Lapwings
- Miss Powell's telephone number is Woolverstone 30
- Daddy and Mother shuttle back and forth between London and Pin Mill
- Dum and Dee bigger than Daisy, but she is in command, Dum bigger than Dee (they're not twins)
- Molly Blackett is meeting the Amazons in London to get them scrubbed and holystoned ready for school (Ted Walker, (SW31)
- Karabadangbaraka ~ Akarabgnadabarak (or if Daisy's saying it, akarabgandabarak) is the sign/countersign of the Eels
| Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series | |||||
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Swallows and Amazons | 'Their Own Story' | Swallowdale | Peter Duck | Winter Holiday | Coot Club | Pigeon Post | We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea | The Big Six | Secret Water | Missee Lee | The Picts and the Martyrs | 'Coots in the North' | Great Northern?
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