Life in a Devon Village, Country Classics

by Henry Williamson

Book by Williamson, Henry

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

Henry William Williamson was an English soldier, naturalist, farmer and ruralist writer known for his natural history and social history novels, as well as for his fascist sympathies. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 with his book Tarka the Otter.

Henry Williamson is best known for a tetralogy of four novels which consists of The Beautiful Years (1921), Dandelion Days (1922), The Dream of Fair Women (1924) and The Pathway (1928). These novels are collectively known as The Flax of Dream and they follow the life of Willie Maddison from boyhood to adulthood in a rapidly changing world.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant telling of the authors life in Georgeham in the 1920s.

A detailed account of the characters and events of village life . The author gave himself the task of recording the words exactly ; on one occasion in the village pub , the Lower House, he refers to writing down the words of a conversation on his cigarette packet then even his matchbox during a louche evening of song and drinking with other villagers.

He infuses a moral standpoint into his observation. He is perhaps a humanist, observes humorously the disapproval of the rector or younger brother Ernest Gammon of his elder , Harry. ( Harry has had his customary Sunday 2 pints , on this occasion before the consecration of the new burial ground - an extra 3rd pint as it is a special occasion )

He has a great and balanced feel for nature , again observed in great knowledgable detail. The new tenant Harry Gammon blocks up with mortar the hole beneath his thatch at Skirr cottage : the barn owls are never seen again. Williamson expresses his anger and frustration.

The tenants Maltese wife is never accepted in the village. She goes slightly mad and ends up young still , dying alone in hospital. W asks himself , why didn’t he do more for her and her children .

At the close he is at the top of the church overlooking the village. He recalls the 10 or so years eclipsing the 1920s he has lived here and the changes he has seen. The many people he has appreciated and the foibles and frailty he has observed. He reflects that the most important thing is to be “ living “. He reflects that his way to see life is as the sun sees the world , gazing down without seeing shadow , exuding warmth.

His owl symbol closes the book. 1920s life remembered and coming to Georgeham it gives me an opportunity to reflect on the changed and unchanged, the beauty of this natural area and of the sea.

[Robert Slack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The rural life of a Devon Village during the 1920s. There are particularly rich rewards here, especially for anyone with experience of the old country folk of Devon. I have deep roots in Devon, and easily recognised the phrases and customs of the people captured by the author. I pondered how Williamson came to have such an acute consciousness. The conclusion I reached was that Williamson brought an outsider's ear to his writings. The idiosyncrasies of the country folk must have leapt out to his sensitivity. It is a jumble of notes, so there isn't the benefit of a plot to string you along. Reading this book feels more like a study exercise. The narrative well conveys Williamson's deep affection for the place and people of Devon of that time, and his lamenting that he was documenting the last days of this way of life. The word 'petrol' had appeared on a pump at one of the inns, a token of the change that was to come, and it wasn't exactly welcome. Williamson, himself, was deemed immoral and barmy by the villagers, who obviously never took him in as one of their own. The spirit of the age he described as the "little ego". That is to say, no nonsense people, doing what they needed to do to get by, and free of all pretension. When asked, "How be you?" The reply came, "Living!" Just glad to be alive. Simple home truths don't come more basic and real than that.

Note: This book is currently out of print; book read a 'used' purchase.

Decoded place names:-
Ham: Georgeham
Cryde: Croyde
Barum: Barnstaple
Crosstree: Braunton

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me, I guess. Even though I like H. Williamson's writing. This was not something I enjoyed. "Billy Goldworthy's Cow" was the only chapter I liked. Others obviously felt different.

[Callum Osment · Rating 3 out of 5]

this isn’t actually the book I read but I can’t find the real deal on here - it’s a collection of pastoral tales that capture a moment in time in a very specific part of the country - while not every tale is engaging or memorable the text as a whole is worthwhile for its memorialising.

[Roy McDine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dated in the writing style, but enjoyed the use of local North Devon dialect.