Following Henry Williamson’s Footsteps as He Walked the Coasts of North and South Devon in 1933 in ON FOOT IN DEVON

By Anne Williamson

Henry Williamson (1895-1977), nature writer and novelist, is perhaps best remembered today as the author of the much-loved classics 'Tarka the Otter' and 'Salar the Salmon', although he wrote over fifty books during a long life, including 'The Flax of Dream' tetralogy and his major work, the 15-volume novel sequence 'A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight'. One of his less well-known books is 'On Foot in Devon', published in 1933: Williamson had been approached by the publisher Alexander MacLehose in the summer of 1932 to write the Devon volume for his ‘On Foot’ travel series. Williamson agreed on the condition that he could not/would not write a straightforward travel guide. The result was a mock travelogue entirely different to other books in the ‘On Foot’ series, being quirky, light-hearted yet serious, and encompassing a view of north and south Devon which, although of an era long past, is still pertinent today, and possibly of even more interest as a picture of that lost time.

Anne Williamson, Williamson’s daughter-in-law and biographer, has been inspired to write 'Following Henry Williamson’s Footsteps', an explanatory commentary on the book, for within its pages a wealth of information lies. However, a great deal of it is ‘hidden’, rather like a series of cryptic clues for a crossword puzzle. The thoughts that HW had, and the places, characters, and objects that he discussed, were in some cases obscure, even at the time of the original publication, and are possibly even more so today. While that is perhaps one of the charms of the book, it is also one of its irritations. Anne’s commentary clarifies and enlarges this aspect, and she illustrates the various points with a lavish scattering of quotations from the original book. It is a wander not just literally through the lanes of Devon, but through the lanes of literature, and indeed also down the lanes of memory to a time past. A detailed knowledge or prior reading of On Foot in Devon is not a prerequisite, for the numerous and sometimes lengthy quotations mean that the commentary can be read and enjoyed independently of the book itself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Henry Williamson
• Release date: Feb 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781873507735

Book preview

Preamble

‘Day’s Marches in Devon’

Again the Messrs. MacLehose

Have on the market put

Another little guide for those

Who like to go afoot.

On Foot in Devon has been done

By Mr. Henry Williamson.

To North we go, to south likewise

On lovely coastal routes,

And Mr. Henry is our eyes

And we are in his boots,

And, if the weather sometimes rubs,

At least they call at lots of pubs:

Wild Nature also we may know –

Her simpler odds and ends;

And, if we’re lucky, as we go

The literary friends

Of Mr. Williamson will be

Outside their doors for us to see;

So, should you be about to hike

Along the Devon coasts,

Here’s just the little book you’ll like,

A book, you’ll find, that boasts

Fine photographs of timeless lands

All running out in yellow sands.

Punch , 18 July 1933

That charming little rhyme was the response from the great satirical magazine Punch on the publication of On Foot in Devon, written by Henry Williamson and published by Alexander MacLehose in the summer of 1933. Whoever wrote it had obviously enjoyed the book, and the fun that is poked is very gentle and kind. To be mentioned in Punch was a considerable honour!

In the summer of 1932 Henry Williamson’s great friend, the writer S. P. B. Mais (Petre Mais)¹, suggested that HW should write the Devon volume for the ‘On Foot’ travel series being published by Alexander MacLehose. No doubt from the publisher’s point of view HW would have been a very attractive name to add to the series. Tarka the Otter had brought the author fame, and he had consolidated that with several further well-known titles, especially his writings about North Devon, and in particular his ‘Village Books’ (based on Georgeham, where he had been living) and The Pathway (set on the nearby Braunton Burrows): writings which are notable for what is known as ‘spirit of place’. HW agreed to the proposed new book with the caveat that he could not/would not write a ‘normal’ straightforward guide book. MacLehose consented to this stipulation, and a contract was signed. A year later On Foot in Devon was published – but not before it had caused both HW and his publisher a great deal of angst.

HW’s personal life at that time was in considerable turmoil (even more than usual) and to compound life’s difficulties he had temporarily forgotten that his next book was already due to his contracted publishers, Cape. Thus he had compromised both contracts, causing quite a rumpus, and he had to hurriedly write a second similar book to make amends and keep his contract with Cape.² None of that is apparent in this book however, which is quaint and quirky, light-hearted yet serious, and encompasses a view of Devon which, although of an era long past, is still pertinent today, and possibly of even more interest as a picture of that lost time.

On Foot in Devon by implication invites anyone who wants to join HW on his rambles – during which he reviles throughout in a jokingly serious manner those that are fainthearted, or prefer the attractions of mammon, encapsulated in the persona of Mrs Ramrod, or Henbane-Ramrod as she becomes (henbane being an extremely poisonous plant). The two coastal walks – north and south: ‘Reel I’ and ‘Reel II’ as HW called them, giving a film (or possibly a fishing) connotation to the book – are still possible today, more than eighty years later, and we now invite you to follow in HW’s footsteps. Or if you are not a long-distance walker, you can pick and choose with train, bus, or even your car doing the major leg-work, and only taking short sprints at the various points of vantage. HW himself certainly did not walk the whole distance, as you will find. Alternatively, of course, you can just read this discourse and enjoy the exercise vicariously from your own armchair. (An asterisk between paragraphs indicates the beginning of a new chapter in On Foot in Devon, and page references are given throughout.)

On Foot in Devon is perhaps considered one of the less important of HW’s books, but actually a wealth of information lies within its pages. A great deal of it, however, is ‘hidden’, as it were, in a form of coded messages equivalent to a series of cryptic clues for a crossword puzzle. The thoughts that HW had, and the places, characters, and objects that he discussed, were in some cases fairly obscure even at the time of the original publication, and are possibly even more so today. That is perhaps one of the charms of the book: it is also one of its irritations – but it is reasonably easy to decipher these codes or clues, and the present commentary will, hopefully, clarify and enlarge this aspect, illustrating the various points with a lavish scattering of quotations from the original text. It is a wander not just literally through the lanes of Devon, but through the lanes of literature, and indeed also down the lanes of memory to a time past.

That the editor of the North Devon Journal obviously enjoyed this book is evident in his review of it on publication – to the extent of showing his enthusiasm by emulating HW’s own style. I felt that it would make a very appropriate introduction:

Henry Williamson in Merry Mood

REEL ENJOYMENT

REVIEWED BY THE EDITOR

Published on June 19th by Alexander MacLehose and Co., 58 Bloomsbury-street, London, W.C.1, On Foot in Devon, by Henry Williamson, is surely the most entertaining guide book one would wish to put into one’s pocket. (With its rounded corners, uncomplicated maps inside the two covers, and magnificently readable type, the book can be put in and out of the pocket as often as you like, with the certainty of each such occasion marking a growth of the friendly feeling between reader and book.)

Nobody who is familiar with the books of the creator of Tarka the Otter and The Pathway will expect Mr. Williamson to be conventional even within the confines of a tourist guide-book. You can’t strait-jacket a man whose literary departures from the line of strict social sanity are always such harmonious madness.

So it comes about that the latest addition to the On Foot series establishes a new standard in holiday guidance literature. If you want to tramp through Devon with Henry Williamson you have to put up with Henry Williamson’s company! And jolly good company he is, too. You will soon find you are not hiking with a gazetteer nor plodding along ’bus routes with pedant of platitudinarian. Your journey is a joysome jaunt with a philosopher who breaks all the rules of precise argument and who carries with him the heart of a mischievous schoolboy.

The spirit of the book is delightfully suggested in the sub-title added by the writer to the publishers’ prescribed phrase On Foot in Devon: Mr. Williamson gives the fortunate buyer of the book due warning when he superimposes the description – or Guidance and Gossip. Being a Monologue in Two Reels. After that, the reader must expect things! The dust-jacket of the volume tells me that

Mr. Williamson in his book returns to the field in which he made his reputation – the description of country life and its scenes and sounds. He guides the reader in an observant and diversified walk down the Atlantic coast from Lynton to . . . [and so on].

All this is true; but it does not tell me one half of the truth about this return. It does not, for instance, tell me that every page contains something that consigns to oblivion, as by a magic touch, the whole tribe of guide-books and travellers’ aids – some outrageous delight, some penetrating absurdity, some clear word of truth enwrapped in waggish nonsense. This self-appointed Dragoman gets as much fun out of the pilgrimage as his companions of the road. He asks no recompense but the compliment of accepting his tricks of make-belief as authentic tidings of his unseen convictions. If you will share his spirit – the very spirit of the open road – you shall learn to love his Devon and to know for yourself its kindnesses and the inspiration of its glory.

The book would be assured of many readers if only for its many allusions to living folk, whose names appear for no apparent reason except for the obvious privilege of being in Mr. Williamson’s surprising company. I can imagine a quaint army of relatives and friends purchasing (at 5s. a time) enough copies of On Foot in Devon to go right round the family circle. It is not quite so easy to imagine the proud