Great Northern?

Great Northern?

Author	Arthur Ransome
Cover artist	Arthur Ransome
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Swallows and Amazons
Genre(s)	Children's books
Publisher	Jonathan Cape
Publication date	1947
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 1-56792-259-7 (pb)
Preceded by	The Picts And The Martyrs
Followed by	Coots in the North

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 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. This book is set in the Outer Hebrides and the two familiar Ransome themes of sailing and ornithology come to the fore.

Sources

For this story, Ransome was inspired by a fan, Myles North, an avid birdwatcher who wrote a letter to Ransome which supplied a detailed outline of much of the basic plot. He also supplied the famous phrase "What's hit's history: what's missed's mystery". 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.

Plot summary

The Swallows, Amazons and D's are all on a sailing cruise with Captain Flint in the Outer Hebrides. While the older members of the party clean the boat 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 question arises whether it is a Great Northern Diver which has never been known to nest in the British Isles. An expert they consult turns out to be a deadly enemy for the birds and the rest of the book describes how they try to protect the birds while gathering evidence of their nesting. Complicating the matter is a misunderstanding with the local Scottish inhabitants who are mostly Gaelic speaking.