List of characters in Arthur Ransome books
Encyclopedia
This is a listing of characters from the Swallows and Amazons series of books by Arthur Ransome
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The Death and Glories :
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Michell Ransome was an English author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. These tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Many of the books involve sailing; other common subjects...
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The Swallows
- John Walker — eldest of the Walker children and Captain of the Swallow
- Susan Walker — Mate of the Swallow and the cook and domestic organizer
- Titty Walker — Able Seaman and the most imaginative of the Walkers
- Roger Walker — originally Ship's Boy, later Able Seaman, mischievous, mechanical and very fond of chocolate. He is the youngest of the children apart from the baby.
- Bridget Walker — Ship's Baby who proves to be a brave member of the crew in Secret WaterSecret WaterSecret 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 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...
. Referred to as Vicky in Swallows and AmazonsSwallows and AmazonsSwallows and Amazons is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome; it was first published in 1930, with the action taking place in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District...
because of her supposed resemblance to Queen Victoria.
The Amazons
- Nancy BlackettNancy Blackett (character)Nancy Blackett is a fictional character in nine of the twelve juvenile novels in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of books. She is a bit of a tomboy—acting as captain of the dinghy, Amazon and usually directing her friends in their various adventures...
(real name: Ruth) — Captain of the Amazon; an enterprising leader. She is an imaginative and lively girl who is always willing to create fantasies and adventures. - Peggy Blackett (real name: Margaret) — Mate of the Amazon, Nancy's sister; although a bit timid, tries to live up to Nancy's expectations
The Ds
- Dorothea Callum — imaginative romantic novelist introduced in Winter Holiday with her younger brother.
- Dick Callum — Dorothea's younger brother who is scientific and thoughtful, usually comes up with solutions to technical problems. Though younger than his sister, Dick is Captain of the Scarab and she the First Mate.
The Coots
- Tom Dudgeon — competent sailor and skipper of the Titmouse on the Norfolk Broads, in Coot ClubCoot ClubCoot Club is the fifth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1934. The book sees Dick and Dorothea Callum visiting the Norfolk Broads during the Easter Holidays, eager to learn to sail and thus impress the Swallows and Amazons when they return to the...
and The Big SixThe Big SixThe Big Six is the ninth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1940. The book returns Dick and Dorothea Callum, known as the Ds, to the Norfolk Broads where they renew their friendship with the members of the Coot Club...
. - Bess "Port" Farland — left-handed twin and expert yacht racer
- Nell "Starboard" Farland — right-handed twin and expert yacht racer
The Death and Glories :
- Joe — co-owner of the Death and Glory and owner of a white rat, 'Ratty'
- Bill — co-owner of the Death and Glory
- Pete — is the youngest co-owner of the Death and Glory and keenest fisher of the crew
The Eels
- Don (The Mastodon) — Eel who is a resident of Secret Water
- Daisy — leader of the Eels
- Dum — Eel, elder brother of Daisy
- Dee — Eel, younger brother of Daisy
Friendly Natives
- James Turner also known as Captain Flint or Uncle Jim — the brother of Mrs Blackett and therefore uncle to Nancy and Peggy Blackett, by whom he is considered "unfriendly" at the beginning of Swallows and AmazonsSwallows and AmazonsSwallows and Amazons is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome; it was first published in 1930, with the action taking place in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District...
. He is given his nickname by the Walker family (the Swallows) after Captain FlintCaptain FlintCaptain J. Flint was the fictional captain of a pirate ship, the Walrus, in the novel Treasure Island of the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson...
of Treasure IslandTreasure IslandTreasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
. After differences are resolved he becomes the closest adult ally to the Swallows and the Amazons and joins them in many adventures. - Molly Blackett — mother of Nancy and Peggy Blackett (Peter DuckPeter DuckPeter Duck is the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons sail to Crab Island with Captain Flint and Peter Duck an old sailor to recover buried treasure...
is dedicated to Mrs Robert Blackett and Mrs E.H.R. Walker) - Mrs Walker — called Mother (or Mary by Ted) — mother of the Swallows
- Cdr Walker — called Daddy ('Ted' by Mrs Walker/Mary) — father of the Swallows and sender of the famous telegraph "Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won't drown"
- Professor and Mrs Callum — parents of the Ds; Prof Callum is an archaeologist
- Jim Brading — owner of the Goblin in We Didn't Mean To Go To SeaWe Didn't Mean To Go To SeaWe Didn't Mean to Go to Sea is the seventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1937. In this book, the Swallows are the only recurring characters...
which he lends to Cdr Walker in Secret WaterSecret WaterSecret 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 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... - Timothy Stedding — friend of Captain Flint, originally known as Squashy Hat the rival prospector
- Dr Dudgeon, Mrs Dudgeon, and "our baby" — Tom's family
- A.P — Mr Farland, Port and Starboard's father, the "Aged Parent"
- Mrs McGinty — Housekeeper to Mr Farland
- Mrs Barrable — Admiral of the fleet, and custodian of the Teasel
- Jim Woodall — skipper of Sir Garnet the fastest wherry on the Bure. Port and Starboard work their passage (peeling potatoes) when Sir Garnet is late with her tide and is thus able to give them a lift down to Yarmouth.
- The Billies — Old Billy and Young Billy, father and son charcoal burners, who befriend the Swallows in Swallows and Amazons and Young Billy treats Roger for his sprained ankle in SwallowdaleSwallowdaleSwallowdale is the second book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. It was published in 1931. In this book, camping in the hills and moorland country around Ransome's Lake in the North features much more prominently and there is less sailing...
. Young Billy is over 70 and Old Billy is 94. - Mr & Mrs Jackson — farmers at Holly Howe, the Swallows' initial holiday location. They own the Swallow
- Mr & Mrs Dixon — farmers at Dixon's Farm, where the Swallows often go for milk, and where Dick and Dorothea stay during Winter Holiday. Mrs Dixon was nurse to Dick and Dorothea's mother when she was young. She is famous for her pork pies and also makes toffee (molasses) and fudge.
- Silas — cowhand at Dixon's Farm, where the Swallows often go for milk, and where Dick and Dorothea stay during Winter Holiday. Silas and Mr Dixon make the Ds' sledge following the rescue by Dick of the cragfast sheep.
- Mr & Mrs Swainson and Mary Swainson (their granddaughter) — Farmers at Swainson's Farm where the Swallows go for milk when shipwrecked in Swallowdale; Neddy who is 90 sings them a song. Mrs Swainson is famous for patchwork quilts (mentioned in Swallowdale and in Winter Holiday. Mary darns Roger's shorts after he has slid down the Knickerbockerbreaker in Swallowdale. She also rows the Great Aunt, Miss Maria Turner, over to Captain Flint's houseboat on her way to the train station for her holiday in The Picts and the MartyrsThe Picts And The MartyrsThe Picts and the Martyrs is the eleventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1943. This is the last completed book set in the Lake District and features the Blackett sisters, the Amazons and the Callum siblings, Dick and Dorothea, known as...
. - Jacky Warriner — farmer's son met briefly by Roger & Titty in Swallowdale, in The Picts And The Martyrs he brings milk for the Ds, lends them his saw which they find in the Dogs Home, shows them how to store milk (under a stone covering a scooped-out hollow in moss), teaches them to guddle trout in the beck, and also gives them a rabbit and an onion. These latter form the main ingredients for the stew cooked by Dorothea the night before the burglary, when Nancy visits the Dogs Home at night in a rainstorm and shares the rabbit stew. Jacky is pleased to have his knife with a bone handle, which the Ds find in the Dogs Home and return to him.
- Mrs Tyson and her son Robin — In Pigeon PostPigeon PostPigeon Post is the sixth book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1936. It won the first Carnegie Medal awarded for children's literature....
; she is apprehensive about fires and they are glad to escape from Tyson's Farm to the campsite by the spring (Titty's Well). Robin lends them a crowbar for the sinking of the well.
Other friendly characters
- Peter Duck — elderly sailor with a story of treasure in the book of the same name. He also appears in Swallowdale as Titty's imaginary friend.
- Bill — cabin boy of the Viper who joins the crew of the Wild Cat.
- Missee Lee (or Miss Lee) — Chinese Cambridge-educated pirate leader in the book of the same name.
Unfriendly Natives
- Maria Turner, also known as Great Aunt Maria, the Great Aunt or The G.A. — the childhood guardian of James Turner and Molly Turner, whose parents are never named. Jim and Molly address her as "Aunt Maria" and she held considerable sway as head of the family, even after Molly's marriage to Bob Blackett. As a parent figure to their mother, Great Aunt Maria clearly thought of herself as something of a grandmother-figure to her great nieces Nancy and Peggy Blackett. However, their view of her as some sort of distant relative, as well as an overprotective adventure-spoiler, forms the basis of the conflict between them and her. Of the twelve completed books in the series, she makes appearances in two, SwallowdaleSwallowdaleSwallowdale is the second book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. It was published in 1931. In this book, camping in the hills and moorland country around Ransome's Lake in the North features much more prominently and there is less sailing...
and The Picts and the MartyrsThe Picts And The MartyrsThe Picts and the Martyrs is the eleventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1943. This is the last completed book set in the Lake District and features the Blackett sisters, the Amazons and the Callum siblings, Dick and Dorothea, known as...
. - George Owdon — a NorfolkNorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
boy, older than Tom Dudgeon, in Coot ClubCoot ClubCoot Club is the fifth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1934. The book sees Dick and Dorothea Callum visiting the Norfolk Broads during the Easter Holidays, eager to learn to sail and thus impress the Swallows and Amazons when they return to the...
and The Big SixThe Big SixThe Big Six is the ninth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1940. The book returns Dick and Dorothea Callum, known as the Ds, to the Norfolk Broads where they renew their friendship with the members of the Coot Club...
. He steals and sells birds' eggs, so is an enemy of the Coots. - Ralph Strakey — a friend of George Owdon in The Big Six, in which George and Ralph attempt to frame the Coots for theft and for setting adrift moored boats.
- Mr Jemmerling — an egg collector and owner of the Pterodactyl in Great Northern?Great Northern?Great Northern? is the twelfth and final completed book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1947. In this book, the three families of major characters in the series, the Swallows , the Amazons and the Ds , are all reunited in a book for the...
- The Hullabaloos — a party of five (three men and two women) who hire the Margoletta in Coot Club. Last seen in gaudy but wet yachting gear and beach pyjamas being escorted to an hotel in Yarmouth having rammed a post on Breydon Water. They are called Ronald, James and 'Livy (Olivia?), plus an unnamed man and unnamed woman (called Jerry and Maude in the video Swallows and Amazons For Ever).
- The Dogmudgeon — Scottish head ghillie who at first stalks the explorers in Great Northern? but later assists them against Mr Jemmerling
Other unfriendly characters
- Taicoon Chang and Taicoon Wu — leaders of the Three Island Pirates who want to chop off heads in Missee LeeMissee LeeMissee Lee is the tenth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, set in 1930s China. The Swallows and Amazons are on a round the world trip with Captain Flint aboard the schooner Wild Cat. After the Wild Cat sinks, they escape in the Swallow and Amazon but are...
. - Black Jake and the crew of the Viper — five criminals who are after Peter Duck's treasure. The porter says Black Jake has "got the scum of the place with him in that hooker of his." Bill describes them: Simeon Boon just out from two years hard, Mogandy the negro, George (a brother of Black Jake, who is wanted by the police), and a man with a scarred face who was chucker-out or bruiser at the Ketch as Ketch Can (a fisherman's tavern in Lowestoft). Later when they climb onto the Wild Cat and attack Bill and Peter Duck, it is apparent that the others do not trust Black Jake, and that Black Jake's brother is called George (see Peter DuckPeter DuckPeter Duck is the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons sail to Crab Island with Captain Flint and Peter Duck an old sailor to recover buried treasure...
, chapters 1, 13 & 30).
Animal characters
- Polly - Ship's parrotParrotParrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
, given to Titty by Captain Flint at the end of Swallows and AmazonsSwallows and AmazonsSwallows and Amazons is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome; it was first published in 1930, with the action taking place in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District...
. Also features in Peter DuckPeter DuckPeter Duck is the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons sail to Crab Island with Captain Flint and Peter Duck an old sailor to recover buried treasure...
, SwallowdaleSwallowdaleSwallowdale is the second book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. It was published in 1931. In this book, camping in the hills and moorland country around Ransome's Lake in the North features much more prominently and there is less sailing...
and Missee LeeMissee LeeMissee Lee is the tenth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, set in 1930s China. The Swallows and Amazons are on a round the world trip with Captain Flint aboard the schooner Wild Cat. After the Wild Cat sinks, they escape in the Swallow and Amazon but are...
. - Gibber - Ship's monkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
, promised to Roger by Captain Flint at the end of Swallows and Amazons. Only features in Peter Duck and Missee LeeMissee LeeMissee Lee is the tenth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, set in 1930s China. The Swallows and Amazons are on a round the world trip with Captain Flint aboard the schooner Wild Cat. After the Wild Cat sinks, they escape in the Swallow and Amazon but are...
, in Swallowdale he is referred to as being on holiday at the zoo - Sinbad - Ship's kitten, rescued by John when found clinging to a chicken coop in the middle of the North Sea during We Didn't Mean to Go to SeaWe Didn't Mean To Go To SeaWe Didn't Mean to Go to Sea is the seventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1937. In this book, the Swallows are the only recurring characters...
, he also features in Secret WaterSecret WaterSecret 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 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... - William — the noble and heroic PugPugThe pug is a "toy" breed of dog with a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, and a compact square body with well-developed muscle. They have been described as multum in parvo , referring to the pug's personality and...
who braved the mud to save the crew of the Teasel from starvation on Breydon Water in Coot ClubCoot ClubCoot Club is the fifth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1934. The book sees Dick and Dorothea Callum visiting the Norfolk Broads during the Easter Holidays, eager to learn to sail and thus impress the Swallows and Amazons when they return to the...
; also in The Big SixThe Big SixThe Big Six is the ninth book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1940. The book returns Dick and Dorothea Callum, known as the Ds, to the Norfolk Broads where they renew their friendship with the members of the Coot Club... - Bess — Jacky Warriner's sheepdog in The Picts and the MartyrsThe Picts And The MartyrsThe Picts and the Martyrs is the eleventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1943. This is the last completed book set in the Lake District and features the Blackett sisters, the Amazons and the Callum siblings, Dick and Dorothea, known as...
- Roy — the Dixon's sheepdog in Winter HolidayWinter holidayWinter holiday may refer to:* Christmas and holiday season.* Winter holiday, a name sometimes given to the Christmas period to avoid Christian connotations. See Christmas controversy....