A First Rate Tragedy (42 page)

Introduction

1
. Cherry-Garrard,
The Worst Journey in the World
, p. 475.

2
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 11 May 1908.

3
. Wells H.G. quoted by Hynes,
The Edwardian Turn of Mind
, p. 7.

4
. Balfour, Hansard Vol. 89, Cols. 19 and 20.

5
. Glyn,
Romantic Adventure
, p. 97–8.

6
. Baden-Powell,
Scouting for boys
, p. 208.

7
. MacKellar, C.D.,
Scented Isles and Coral Gardens
, quoted by Huntford,
Shackleton
, p. 159.

8
. Scott,
The Voyage of Discovery
, Vol. I, p. 467.

9
. Gran,
The Norwegian with Scott
, p. 33.

10
. Cherry-Garrard,
The Worst Journey in the World
, p. 58.

Chapter One – The Early Heats of the Great Race

The key sources for this chapter are the diaries of Captain Cook, from which nearly all the quotes from Cook are taken; James Clark Ross’s
A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions
from which all Ross’s quotes are taken and L.P. Kirwan’s excellent book
The White Road
which chronicles the history of Polar exploration.

1
. Kirwan,
The White Road
, p. 12.

2
. Kirwan, ibid., p. 43.

3
. Scott,
The Voyage of Discovery
, Vol. I, p. 14.

4
. Kirwan, op. cit., p. 230.

5
. Address to the Royal Geographical Society, 1900.

6
. Quoted in Huxley,
Scott of the Antarctic
, p. 4.

7
. Markham,
Antarctic Obsession
, p. 4–5.

8
. Markham,
The Lands of Silence
, p. 447.

Chapter Two – Scott – The Early Days

1
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 26 May 1908.

2
. Thompson, Sir Courtauld letter quoted by J.M. Barrie, introduction to
Scott’s Last Expedition,
(1927)
.

3
. Scott’s diary, quoted by Seaver,
Scott of the Antarctic
, p. 18.

4
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Scott, 1 January 1911.

5
. Scott, letter to father, 29 September 1894.

6
. Scott, letter to mother, 1898.

7
. Scott, letter to mother, 2 December 1898.

8
. Scott, letter to mother, 15 October 1898.

Chapter Three – ‘Ready, Aye, Ready’

The main secondary sources for Wilson are G. Seaver’s two excellent books
Edward Wilson of the Antarctic
and
The Faith of Edward Wilson
. The main secondary source for Edgar Evans is G.C. Gregor’s
Swansea’s Antarctic Explorer
which provides some interesting detail about the
early years of this engaging and important but sometimes neglected figure.

1
. Markham,
Antarctic Obsession
, p. 125.

2
. Ibid, p. 133.

3
. Armitage,
Cadet to Commodore
, p. 129.

4
. Ibid, p. 130.

5
. Ibid, p. 141.

6
. Schackleton, quoted Huntford,
Schackleton
, p. 13.

7
. Scott, letter to Oriana Wilson, March 1912.

8
. Seaver,
Edward Wilson of the Antarctic
, p. 17.

9
. Ibid, p. 56.

10
. Ibid, p. 72.

11
. Markham,
Antarctic Obsession
, p. 83.

12
. Ibid, p. 102.

13
. Ibid, p. 17.

14
. Letter,
Cambria Daily Leader
, 13 February 1913.

15
. Markham,
Antarctic Obsession
, p. 96.

16
. Ibid, p. 88.

Chapter Four – ‘Childe Harold to the Dark Tower Came’

1
. Hare to Pound, letter, 21 June 1965.

2
. Lashly,
Antarctic Diaries
, p. 27, 10 February 1902.

3
. Ibid, p. 35, 28 March 1902.

4
. Quoted by Bernacchi,
The Saga of Discovery
, p. 47.

5
. Ibid, p. 44.

6
. Ibid, p. 71.

7
. Wilson, letter to parents, quoted by Seaver,
Edward Wilson of the Antarctic
, p. 84.

8
. Scott,
The Voyage of Discovery
, Vol. I, p. 312.

9
. Ibid, p. 313.

10
. Ford, quoted by Seaver,
Edward Wilson of the Antarctic
, p. 95.

Chapter Five – ‘Poor Old Schackleton’

1
. Hare, letter to Pound, 21 June 1965.

2
. Wilson, letter to parents quoted by Seaver,
Edward Wilson of the Antarctic
, p. 84.

3
. Wilson, quoted by Seaver as above, p. 104.

4
. Wilson,
Diary of Discovery Expedition
, p. 175.

5
. Wilson, quoted by Seaver as above, p. 106.

6
. Armitage, op. cit., p. 132.

7
. Scott,
The Voyage of Discovery
, Vol. I, p. 544.

8
. Shackleton, diary, 9 November 1902.

9
. Ibid, 21 November 1902.

10
. Armitage, memo to H.R. Mill, 24 May 1922.

11
. Shackleton, diary, 25 December 1902.

12
. Scott, letter to
Daily Mail
, 7 November 1904.

13
. Wilson, quoted by Seaver,
Edward Wilson of the Antarctic
, p. 114.

14
. Armitage, memo to H.R. Mill, 24 May 1922.

15
. Barne, diary, 1 March 1903.

16
. Doorly,
The Voyage of the Morning
, p. 110.

Chapter Six – ‘Little Human Insects’

1
. Hodgson,
Discovery Journal
, 22 June 1903.

2
. Skelton,
Sledging Journal
, 19 November 1903.

3
. Wilson,
Diary of the Discovery Expedition
, p. 332.

4
. Colbeck, quoted by Savours,
The Voyage of Discovery
, p. 97

Chapter Seven – The Reluctant Celebrity

1
. Markham, address to Royal Geographical Society’s and Royal Society’s welcome luncheon, 16 September 1904.

2
. Wharton, comment on Scott’s initial report to the Admiralty, 13 May 1904.

3
. Scott, speech to the welcome luncheon, 16 September 1904.

4
. Scott, letter to mother, September 1905.

5
. Scott, letter to H.R. Mill, 1904.

6
. Scott, speech at the Royal Geographical Society on receiving the Gold Medal of the American Geographical Society, April 1906.

7
. Barrie, introduction to
Scott’s Last Expedition
, p. xii. (1927 edition).

8
. Shackleton, letter to Scott, 17 May 1907.

9
. Scott, letter to Shackleton, handwritten on 8. above, and quoted as being among Shackleton family papers by M. and J. Fisher in
Shackleton
.

Chapter Eight – ‘Captain Scott in Love’

1
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 8 November 1907.

2
. Quoted by Seaver,
Scott of the Antarctic
, p. 13.

3
. Bernacchi, op. cit., p. 114.

4
. ‘Podge’ (Kathleen Bruce’s sister), undated note in pencil to Kathleen recalling their childhood.

5
. Lees-Milne, quoted in Young,
A Great Task of Happiness
, p. 99–100.

6
. ‘Podge’, undated note to Kathleen, as at 4 above.

7
. Ibid.

8
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 25 July 1908.

9
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, November 1907.

10
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, early 1908.

11
. Scott, letter to Wilson, undated.

12
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 11 May 1908.

13
. Lord Kennet, introduction to
Self-Portrait of an Artist
, p. 11.

14
. Bruce, Kathleen, letter to Scott, 4 January 1908.

15
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 5 January 1908.

16
. Bruce, Kathleen, letter to Scott, quoted in Young, op. cit., p. 89.

17
. Bruce, Rosslyn, (Kathleen’s brother), to Rachel Gurney (his fiancée) quoted by Young, op. cit., p. 89.

18
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 14 May 1908.

19
. Exchange of correspondence recorded in Lady Kennet’s
Self-Portrait of an Artist
, p. 85.

20
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 26 May 1908.

21
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 3 June 1908.

22
. Bruce, Kathleen, letter to Scott, quoted by Louisa Young, op. cit., p. 98.

23
. Gran, quoted by Huntford,
Scott and Amundsen
from an interview with the author, p. 278.

24
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 27 July 1908.

25
. Scott, letter to Rosslyn Bruce, quoted by Anderson,
The Last of the Eccentrics
, p. 185.

26
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 18 August 1908.

27
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 27 August 1908.

28
. Bruce, Rosslyn, letter to Rachel Gurney quoted in Anderson, op. cit., p. 184.

29
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 28 July 1908.

30
. Sir Lewis Beaumont, quoted by Gwynn, op. cit., p. 131.

31
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Bruce, 11 May 1908.

32
. Scott, letter to Kathleen Scott, quoted by Young, op. cit., p. 104.

33
. Letters: Kathleen Bruce to Scott, 12 November 1908; Scott to Kathleen Scott, 17 January 1909 and 17 March 1909; Kathleen Scott to Scott, 13 March 1909 and Scott to Kathleen, 25 November 1908.

34
. Related by Dr Atkinson, memorandum from papers of the British Antarctic Expedition 1910–13.

35
. Scott, speech at dinner given by Savage Club in honour of Shackleton, 18 June 1909.

36
. Scott, letter to Shackleton, 1 July 1909.

Chapter Nine – A Matter of Honour

The main source for Oates’s early life, in addition to his letters to his mother is material published in
Captain Oates
by S. Limb and P. Cordingley. The main source for the youthful Bowers, in addition to his family letters, is G. Seaver’s biography
Birdie Bowers of the Antarctic
.

1
. Wilson, quoted in Seaver’s
Edward Wilson of the Antarctic
, p. 190.

2
. Skelton, letter to Scott, 7 April 1910.

3
.
Halstead Gazette
, 18 March 1977, quoted by S. Limb and P. Cordingley,
Captain Oates
, p. 21.

4
. Oates, letter to his mother, 2 May 1899.

5
. Scott, diary, 22 October 1911, omitted from published version.

6
. Oates, letter to his mother, 8 January 1901.

7
. Oates, letter to his mother, 25 January 1901.

8
. James, quoted by Cecil,
Life in Edwardian England
, p. 6.

9
.
Army and Navy Gazette
, 22 February 1913.

10
. Quoted by S. Limb and P. Cordingley, op. cit., p. 91.

11
. Oates, letter to his mother, 21 January 1910.

12
. Oates, letter to his mother, 12 March 1910.

13
. Evans (Teddy), article in the
Strand Magazine
, ‘Captain Oates – My Recollection of a Gallant Comrade’, 1913.

14
. Amundsen,
The South Pole
, Vol. I, p. 57.

15
. Quoted by S. Limb and P. Cordingley, op. cit., p. 95.

16
. Debenham,
The Quiet Land
, p. 126.

17
. Bowers, letter to his mother, 28 August 1910.

18
. Bowers and
The Watchtower
, letter of 7 April 1909; Bowers’s comments on Church of England, letter of 23 April 1909; Bowers on spiders, letter 19 April 1910; Bowers’s own letter to Eskimos quoted by Seaver,
Birdie Bowers of the Antarctic
, p. 10.

19
. Ibid, p. 49.

20
. Ibid, p. 72.

21
. Bowers, letter to his sister, 17 July 1907.

22
. Bowers’s letter on Indian self-government, 27 June 1907; Bowers’s letters on French, 2 June 1907 and 19 April 1910 and on the lure of the Southern Continent, 6 September 1907.

23
. Bowers, letter to his sister, 14 November 1907.

24
. Bowers, letter to mother, 9 April 1910.

25
. Evans, (Teddy),
South with Scott
, p. 8.

26
. Scott, letter to Edgar Evans, quoted by Gregor,
Swansea’s Antarctic Explorer
, p. 30.

27
. Cherry-Garrard, the memorable opening sentence in his introduction to
The Worst Journey in the World
.

28
. Wilson, letter to Cherry-Garrard, 25 April 1910.

29
. Wright, C.,
Silas, The Antarctic Diaries and Memoir of Charles S. Wright
, 10 October 1910.

30
. Ibid.

31
. Debenham, op. cit., p. 109.

32
. Oates, diary quoted by S. Limb and P. Cordingley, op. cit., p. 100.