By the same author
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS
SWALLOWDALE
PETER DUCK
WINTER HOLIDAY
COOT CLUB
PIGEON POST
WE DIDN’T MEAN TO GO TO SEA
SECRET WATER
THE BIG SIX
MISSEE LEE
THE PICTS & THE MARTYRS
GREAT NORTHERN?
COOTS IN THE NORTH & OTHER STORIES
RACUNDRA’S FIRST CRUISE
ROD AND LINE (FISHING ESSAYS)
OLD PETER’S RUSSIAN TALES
THE WAR OF THE BIRDS & THE BEASTS
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ARTHUR RANSOME
(ed. Rupert Hart-Davis)
ARTHUR RANSOME ON FISHING
(introduced by Jeremy Swift)
SIGNALLING FROM MARS: LETTERS
(ed. Hugh Brogan)
DESPATCHES
ARTHUR RANSOME
Illustrated by the Author
A Godine Storyteller
DAVID R. GODINE · PUBLISHER
BOSTON
This is a Godine Storyteller
published in 1985 by
DAVID R. GODINE · Publisher
Post Office Box 450
Jaffrey, New Hampshire 03452
First Published in 1930 by Jonathan Cape Ltd.;
new illustrated edition published in 1931;
new edition, type re-set in 1958
Published in eBook format by David R. Godine, Publisher
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission
from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information
contact Permissions, David R. Godine, Publisher,
Fifteen Court Square, Suite 320, Boston, Massachusetts 02108.
SOFTCOVER ISBN: 978-1-56792-420-6
E-BOOK ISBN: 978-1-56792-462-6
LCCN 84-48803
ILLUSTRATIONS
Despatches
Making Ship’s Papers
The Start of the Voyage
Feeling Their Way In
The Camp Fire
Pearl Diving
“It’s a Shark!”
Roger on Guard
Unseen Enemy
Carrying Up the Puncheon
Leading Lights
The Serpent
Loading Firewood
Captain John Backwatered
The Lighthouse Tree
The Enemy’s Boathouse
Night Sailing
“Do You Surrender?”
“Go It, Nancy!”
There Was a Bang
Captain Flint Walks the Plank
“We’ve Found It!”
Wind, Rain and Lightning
Farewell!
MAPS
General Map
Wild Cat Island
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I have often been asked how I came to write Swallows and Amazons. The answer is that it had its beginning long, long ago when, as children, my brother, my sisters and I spent most of our holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston. We played in or on the lake or on the hills above it, finding friends in the farmers and shepherds and charcoal-burners whose smoke rose from the coppice woods along the shore. We adored the place. Coming to it, we used to run down to the lake, dip our hands in and wish, as if we had just seen the new moon. Going away from it, we were half drowned in tears. While away from it, as children and as grown-ups, we dreamt about it. No matter where I was, wandering about the world, I used at night to look for the North Star and, in my mind’s eye, could see the beloved skyline of great hills beneath it. Swallows and Amazons grew out of those old memories. I could not help writing it. It almost wrote itself.
A.R.
Haverthwaite
May 19th, 1958
CONTENTS