Conclusion: A Disappearing Act

Abstract

Arthur Ransome’s landmark series of books came to a close in 1947 when Titty Walker and Dick Callum rowed out to return the stolen Diver eggs to their mother. It is often a poignant moment for readers because as the last book it locks the Walkers, Blacketts and Callums into what Victor Watson describes as the ‘mythology of childhood’.¹ They will never change, never grow old, never suffer, and in this sense Watson’s observation that ‘Eden’ lies within Swallows and Amazons (1930) is equally true of the series as a whole.² Unlike Malcolm Saville, who chose to show his Lone Piners growing up (with Petronella Sterling turning 18 in the final book),³ Ransome’s children become the stuff of legend. As Watson has it, ‘They have something in common with Jason, Odysseus, Lancelot and Robin Hood. Their business is to appear unexplained at the beginning of each narrative, and go adventuring into our imaginative lives.’⁴